Almunia Not Happy With Remedies Suggested By Google, Asks For More Improvements

For some time now, the European antitrust commissioner had not yet made a formal statement concerning the proposal made by Google which offered remedies to seek a solution in the antitrust case against the firm for its dominance over internet search.

All that has changed now, with Joachin Almunia confirming his response to Google’s proposal in a press briefing in Brussels. He went on to say, “After the analysis of the results of the market test that concluded last month [June 27], I concluded that the proposals that Google sent to us months ago are not enough to overcome our concerns. I wrote a letter to Mr Schmidt asking Google for more improvements.”

However, this isn’t the first time that Almunia has sent a letter to Schmidt with the only difference being that his first letter, sent in May 2012, outlined the reasons why the antitrust case was brought up against Google.

Along with this, competitors have also been encouraged to respond through the lobbying group FairSearch, with some names being Expedia, Microsoft and Oracle that have been trying to usurp Google’s dominance in the search market in Europe.

What makes matters worse for Google is that the aforementioned lobbying group, FairSearch, has also released the results of a survey conducted among customers and which point out how ineffective the remedies that have been outlined by Google would be.

And even if some people might consider that these remedies might seem reasonable, competitors argue that there’s more than meets the eye. In the process, Google has also surprised the EU in conceding so little in its effort to do away with the antitrust lawsuit that it has to deal with.

Almunia will make a final statement before the summer break in August, and sources believe that his office will make a more detailed one in regard to the Google case.