EU regulators likely to demand more concessions from Google

EU regulators will likely demand more concessions from Google to end a three-year investigation into complaints that it squeezed out rivals including Microsoft in Internet searching, the EU antitrust chief said on Tuesday.

The world's most popular search engine submitted proposals to the European Commission early this year, offering to label its own products in Internet search results and make it easier for advertisers to move to rival platforms.

Complainants, including British price comparison price site Foundem and German online mapping company Hotmaps, have criticised Google's proposals, saying these would force competitors to compete among themselves, raising their costs and increasing merchants' dependency on Google.

The EU competition authority had initially given complainants until May 26 to provide feedback but later extended the deadline to June 27 following pressure from the companies.

"After, we will analyse the responses we have received, we will ask Google, probably, I cannot anticipate this formally, almost 100 percent we will ask Google: you should improve your proposals," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told lawmakers during a hearing at the European Parliament.

Almunia also said he had yet to decide whether to open a formal investigation into Google's Android operating system, widely used in smartphones phones and tablets.

"We have received a formal complaint regarding some aspects of the Android ecosystem. We are working on it, we have not decided if we will open or not a formal investigation," he said.

In April, a group of companies including Microsoft and Nokia filed a complaint with the Commission, accusing Google of blocking competition in mobile telephony.

Google spokesman Al Verney was not immediately available for comment.

© Thomson Reuters 2013