Google Faces Call from DuckDuckGo for New EU Probes into Tech Rule Compliance

Google said it has made significant changes to its products to comply with the DMA.

Advertisement
By Reuters | Updated: 21 November 2024 14:07 IST
Highlights
  • Chrome is the world's most popular internet search engine
  • EU has asked Google from favouring products on its platforms
  • The Commission has not commented on DuckDuckgo's allegations
Google Faces Call from DuckDuckGo for New EU Probes into Tech Rule Compliance

Google is required to make it easier for users to switch to rival services as per EU laws

Photo Credit: Bloomberg

Alphabet's Google faced a call on Wednesday for additional investigations into its compliance with landmark European Union rules aimed at reining in Big Tech.

Privacy-focused internet search engine DuckDuckGo, which research company Statista said had a global market share of 0.54 percent in January this year, urged the European Commission to open three additional investigations.

Under the EU's Digital Markets Act adopted in 2022, Google and six other tech companies are required to make it easier for users to switch to rival services and banned from favouring their products on their platforms, among other obligations.

"The DMA has yet to achieve its full potential, the search market in the EU has seen little movement, and we believe launching formal investigations is the only way to force Google into compliance," Kamyl Bazbaz, DuckDuckGo's senior vice-president for public affairs, wrote in a blog.

Advertisement

The world's most popular internet search engine is already the target of two DMA investigations related to its app store Google Play's rules and whether it discriminates against third-party services on Google search results.

Google said it was working with industry, experts and the Commission and has made significant changes to its products to comply with the DMA.

Advertisement

"This includes providing consumers and businesses with even more choices about what services they use. When consumers use our services, they expect their data to be protected. We will not compromise that trust in order to give competitors more access to sensitive data," a Google spokesperson said.

The Commission declined to comment on DuckDuckgo's allegations, saying it was fully committed to ensuring the implementation and enforcement of the DMA.

Advertisement

Bazbaz said one investigation should target Google's proposal to license anonymised search data to rivals directed at European users, saying this data set likely excludes 99% of search queries, effectively making it useless to competitors.

"Google is trying to avoid its legal obligation in the name of privacy, which is ironic coming from the Internet's biggest tracker," Bazbaz said.

He said Google should also be investigated for allegedly failing to comply with the DMA obligations to allow users to easily switch to rival search engines.

If companies are found to have breached the DMA it can cost them as much as 10 percent of their global annual turnover.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

 

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: EU, Google, DuckDuckGo, Digital Markets Act, DMA
Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Best Window ACs under Rs 30,000 in India (July 2025): See List
  2. iQOO 13 Launched in india in Green Colourway: See Price, Availability
  1. Astronomers Capture First-Ever Image of a Dead Star That Exploded Twice in Rare Supernova Event
  2. Climate Satellite MethaneSAT Fails After Just One Year in Orbit
  3. New Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Speeds Through Solar System
  4. The Hunt: Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Now Available For Streaming on SonyLIV
  5. Best Window ACs under Rs 30,000 in India (July 2025): Carrier, Voltas, Lloyd, and More
  6. CSIRO Uses Quantum AI to Revolutionize Semiconductor Design
  7. Metamaterial Breaks Thermal Symmetry, Enables One-Way Heat Emission
  8. NASA TEMPO Satellite to Continue Tracking Pollution Hourly from Space Until 2026
  9. Russia Launches Progress 92 Cargo Freighter with 3 Tons of Supplies to the ISS Successfully
  10. Sidlingu 2 Streaming Now on Prime Video: Know Everything About This Kannada Comedy Drama
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.