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"Google's long-running antitrust case with the European Commission is finally coming to a close. The technology company has agreed to prominently display at least three of rival services whenever a search result returns a link to one of its own services, such as Google Shopping or Gmail.\r\n\r\nThe Commission said these restrictions would apply to all of Google's existing search tools, as well as the design and layout for future services that it creates.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;The new proposal obtained from Google after long and difficult talks can now address the Commission's concerns,&amp;quot; European Commission Vice President Joaqu\u00EDn Almunia said.\u00A0&amp;quot;Without preventing Google from improving its own services, it provides users with real choice between competing services presented in a comparable way.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nThe case was opened in November 2010 after Google was criticised for displaying links to its own services, such as Google Shopping, too prominently in users\u2019 search results. In addition, links to rival products and services are being buried further down the page, which is restricting competition across the Web.\r\n\r\nIn truth, Google had agreed to most of these terms in April last year. The firm also agreed to label all promoted links for its own specialized search results over a five-year period. Over a similar timeframe, the company said it would be willing to give other companies the option to opt-out from having their content used in any of Google's search products.\r\n\r\nThe deal was tested with a trial period, but Almunia said there was &amp;quot;very negative&amp;quot; feedback from the market. Google was asked to improve its proposals and while we don't know exactly what changed, the wording of today's statement suggests that the company has given up very little ground.\r\n\r\nThat's surprising, given that Almunia suggested in December that Google needed to improve its offer. \u201CThe latest proposals are not acceptable in the sense that they are not proposals that can eliminate our concerns regarding competition,\u201D he told the Spanish radio station \u2018Radio Nacional de Espa\u00F1a\u2018.\r\n\r\nGoogle's compliance will be reviewed by an independent body, but the commitments are only binding for the next five years \u2013 the same time frame that the company originally put forward in April.\r\n\r\nAs part of its agreed commitments, Google will also stop asking publishers to sign exclusivity agreements for displaying ads in its search results. In addition, it will also remove any restrictions that stop search advertising campaigns from being shown on any of its rivals' search engines and services.\r\n\r\nThere is now a chance for those who originally complained about Google's search services to react to the terms of the settlement. Depending on the feedback, the European Commission will decide whether or not to make the commitments legally binding. For a case that began back in Nov\r\n\r\nImage Credit:\u00A0GEORGES GOBET/AFP/GettyImages"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/eu/2014/02/05/google-finally-settles-antitrust-case-eu-commitment-promoting-rival-services/>