Google will be forced to change the way it presents search results in Europe or face antitrust charges for “diverting traffic” to its own services, the EU’s competition chief has said, laying out a sharply different approach from his US counterparts.
In contrast to the Federal Trade Commission, which has given the all-clear to Google’s search engine, Joaquín Almunia has vowed to prevent Google distorting choices for consumers and taking business from rivals.
“We are still investigating, but my conviction is [Google is] diverting traffic,” Mr Almunia told the Financial Times, referring to Google’s preferential treatment of its own vertical search services.