Google is the king of search engines! Period! It dominates the web through several means other than its searches. Just a few of these are Google Navigate and Google AdWords, the latter of the two truly dominating. But here is the question, does Google have a monopoly when it comes to advertisement and search queries?

The European Commission thinks so, in fact they have threatened
Google with antitrust fines if they do not change the way in which they operate. This fine would max out at a possible 10% of their annual revenue. In terms of dollars this could potentially lead to a six billion dollar fine! This is a sizable chunk to say the least and Google has reacted swiftly to make sure that these fines never happen. Plus, it would lead to years of court battles that would tie up both the EC and Google.

The European Commission has stated that they believe that Google is placing an advantage on those who use their services by several means:

  1. Google uses websites on it search results that display Google ads and preventing the websites from displaying rival ads.
  2. Google AdWords make it too difficult to use their AdWords with other services that also provide advertising online.
  3. They also state that Google mines or “scrapes” results from other search engines and places it under their search as their own.
  4. Google uses its algorithm to give higher ranking to particular searches such as retail and travel over more popular sites even though they rank lower if you were to use a more objective search criteria.

Number two thru four on the list have already been addressed. Sites are now allowed to carry ads from other advertising providers, they can opt out of scraping, and allows ad copying happen at the site owners’ discretion.

To address the first allegation Google has made some rather big changes:

  • There will be a clearly displayed difference between regular results and Google’s AdWords results.
  • Google will provide at least three results from the searches local area search engines under the heading “Alternatives.” These results are to be displayed in a manner that gives the other ads the same prominence and graphic look of the Google ad.
  • There will also be clearer labeling that shows which results that are Google related or owned ads and info.

This is a is a big deal, particularly because this is the first time this company has relented and made changes in the way its algorithm orders results, solely because they are mandated by a regulatory commission.

What will this mean to someone who uses Google to search the web? It will give you a more diverse set of results that will incorporate some that are based on your local area. You will see the names of the sites that are Google driven as well as be able to tell those who are not. For those who use Google as extension of their business or group, this changes the playing field and levels it in a way that it never has before.

The EC still has to approve these changes but it is safe to say that Google has been the bigger man and been proactive rather than reactive.