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EU: Not so fast – Almunia may not close Google case before term ends

By  |  March 31, 2014

While European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia has considered the longstanding case against Google as a closed matter ahead of the end of his term later this year, reports say the antitrust case may be far from over as a major consumer group has applied to be an official complainant against the search giant.

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    According to reports, the European Consumer Organizations, known as BEUC, is looking to prevent Almunia’s settlement with Google from becoming an official end to the case. BEUC, already an official observer of the case, released a statement Monday arguing that “adequate answers have not been found to the problem of Google stacking its search results against itself.”

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    BEUC’s announcement throws a wrench in Almunia’s plans of concluding the case before his term ends as the Commission may now have to review the complaint filed by the consumer group. Additional reports say the Commission declined to comment on whether the new complaint will delay the settlement.

    Almunia’s decision to settle with Google, under investigation for allegations of anticompetitive practices in how it displays rival search results and advertisements, was met with heavy backlash by Google rivals, consumer groups and even Commissioners who claimed the agreement would be insufficient to tackle concerns over the company’s business practices.

    Full Content: Gigaom

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