14 DAY TRIAL // Google has been battling an antitrust investigation in the EU for years. In an effort to put the whole thing behind it, the company made a series of concessions, agreeing to highlight competitors on its search page, for example. But the initial proposal was rejected, so a second one has now been sent to about 125 companies.
The EU is asking them to comment on the new proposed settlement. The actual details of the settlement are being kept secret. Still, some info has come out.
For example, Google will highlight competitors in its vertical search engines, shopping and local for now. On these pages, the company will offer discounted pricing, down to three Euro cents from 10, to competitors to place ads to their search engines or review sites.
Competitors will also get more space on the screen and will be able to customize the text in response to the query. Users will be able to dismiss and permanently hide these competitor alternatives. These vertical searches are a small part of Google's revenue, for now.
Another new option for competitors is the ability to opt out of just one specialized search engine – for example, keep out of image search but still have a presence in the regular results.
The EU has asked for feedback on the proposed changes in detail, and it even asked whether these competitor boxes should be shaded.
But it remains to be seen whether this revised proposal gets any further than Google's previous attempts. The search giant wouldn't comment too much on the proposed changes, but it did say that it wanted to move on.
"We’ve made significant changes to address the EC’s concerns, greatly increasing the visibility of rival services and addressing other specific issues," Google said in a statement. "Unfortunately, our competitors seem less interested in resolving things than in entangling us in a never-ending dispute."