Debate over Google’s dominance takes time

For Google, the moment of truth in Brussels is at hand.

While indicating on March 28 that this week’s deadline for his staff to complete their work on Google has slipped slightly, European competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia made it clear that a decision will follow soon. After more than two years of investigation and plenty of rhetoric that suggests he will not let this pass easily, it is unimaginable that Google will be given a completely clean bill of health. But even people close to the situation in Brussels say it is a close call as to whether Almunia will push ahead with the most prominent transatlantic competition case since Microsoft, or opt instead for a quick settlement with Google.

The complaints boil down to two main issues. One is that Google gives unfair preference to its own services in its search results. Type a location, or the codes of two airports, into the search box and the top result will be a map from Google or suggested flight times with prices. For other companies that supply things like online maps or travel services, and which rely on being found through search engines, this is a death sentence. Newer forms of online discovery – led by social networks Facebook and Twitter – may have emerged, but they have done little yet to dilute the power of search. The other complaint is that Google manipulates algorithms to harm rivals, whether by relegating them in its search rankings or by reducing the all-important quality score that is applied to the “landing pages” of advertisers.