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UK: Google EU woes seem never-ending with latest probe

By  |  June 2, 2014

As Google’s settlement with the European Commission stands on shaky grounds, reports say the company is facing yet another scrutiny among competition authorities in Europe, this time in the UK.

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    Reports say the Financial Conduct Authority is reportedly eyeing Google following complaints the search leader is abusing its market dominance regarding Google Comparison Ads services. The Ads are a form of its advertising operations AdWords.

    According to reports, its product comparison services, featured as ads in search results, are now in question as rivals say Google places its own product first. Further, reports say, critics are accusing Google of unfairly boosting the ranking of its compared product in search results.

    The FCA has reportedly contacted Google in recent months, along with other price comparison websites, over services as part of a broader look into the price comparison industry. Google currently only holds about 1 percent of that market.

    But reports say Google is already looking to get ahead before the competition probe goes any deeper; the company has offered to alter how its displays search results of price comparison searches.

    Both Google and the FCA declined to comment on the matter.

    Full content: Telegraph

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