Partner Article

EU Parliament plan to split up Google’s ‘abusive’ monopoly

The EU Parliament is preparing a non-binding resolution that would separate Google’s search engine operations in Europe from the rest of its business.

The Parliament cited a number of potential solutions to Google’s ‘abusive’ dominant position in search engines and its ability to drive Internet traffic to favoured sites.

This is a result of concerns among European politicians about Google’s dominance in the online search market and intends to increase competition in the area.

A public call for a break-up would the most far-reaching action proposed, and according to Sky News significant threat to Google’s business.

The draft motion does not mention any specific search engine by name, though Google is the most dominant provider, with an estimated 90% market share.

The motion seen by news agency Reuters “calls on the Commission to consider proposals with the aim of unbundling search engines from other commercial services as one potential long-term solution” to levelling the competitive playing field.

Parliament has no power to initiate legislation and lacks the authority to break up corporations, and while the draft motion is a non-binding resolution, it would step up the pressure on the European Commission to act against Google.

The firm already faces strong criticism in Europe about everything from privacy to tax policies, and has been fighting a European court’s ruling that requires it to remove links from search results that individuals find objectionable.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .