Google Nears Antitrust Deal Over Web Searches (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Google took another step toward reaching an antitrust settlement with European Union regulators. Google has apparently offered concessions that are acceptable to the European Commission, which would allow the company to avoid a guilty verdict and a huge fine. A final settlement could be agreed upon after the summer. Al Verney, a spokesman for the company, said, “We continue to work cooperatively with the commission.”

The commission has announced that it had begun testing to see whether proposed remedies addressed complaints from competitors that Google favors its own products in search results. The testing will last for a month. Antoine Colombani, a spokesman for the European Union’s competition commissioner, Joaquín Almunia, said, “Now we have concrete proposals on the table which meet the necessary standards for us to submit to the public and to seek feedback on.”

Google has promised to show links to the Web sites of competitors who offer specialized search services. It would also provide a menu of at least three options for non-Google search services in cases where Google sells advertising next to results for specific industries. Google would also label results pointing to its own services as Google properties and separate them from general search results with a box. These results would still appear in the normal list of results.

Regulators have asked Google’s competitors to review proposed changes to resolve concerns with Google’s Internet search and advertising business. Google has been under pressure to make more concessions. A prominent consumer group and groups with links to Microsoft condemned Google for not making sufficient changes. Some companies have asked for a longer period of market testing.

Shivaun Raff, a co-founder of Foundem, one of the original complainants in the case, said, “Instead of promising to end its abusive practices, Google’s proposal seems to offer a halfhearted attempt to dilute their anticompetitive effects by labeling Google’s own services and throwing in some token links to competitors’ services alongside them. Neither measure will make a dent in Google’s ability to hijack the traffic and revenues of its rivals.”

If it breaks its promises, Google could still face a fine of up to 10 percent of its global annual sales.  Last year, Google’s sales totaled nearly $50 billion. Google does not plan to make any of the changes to the site ending in .com, so users in the United States will not see them. The company has so far avoided antitrust charges in the United States.