EU regulators probe whether Google unfairly demoting content in search results

European Union regulators have said they are investigating whether Google is unfairly demoting some content from media publishers in search results under a policy the company says is aimed at stopping scammers.

Brussels moved forward despite the risk of incurring the wrath of President Donald Trump, who has lashed out at the 27-nation bloc’s digital regulations and vowed to retaliate if American tech companies are penalised.

The investigation could result in the latest multibillion-euro fine for the US digital giant from the European Commission.

“We are concerned that Google’s policies do not allow news publishers to be treated in a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory manner in its search results,” said Teresa Ribera, an executive vice-president at the commission.

“We will investigate to ensure that news publishers are not losing out on important revenues at a difficult time for the industry, and to ensure Google complies with the Digital Markets Act (DMA),” Ms Ribera added, referring to the bloc’s sweeping rule book designed to stop tech companies from monopolising digital markets.

The commission, the EU’s executive branch, said it had received indications that Google is demoting certain search results according to its site reputation abuse policy.

But Google said the policy protects European users from “deceptive, low-quality content and scams” and “shady tactics” used to promote them so that they show up in search results.

Pandu Nayak, chief scientist at Google Search, said in a blog post that the company is trying to prevent spammers from abusing search results by buying paid-for content on a publisher’s website to trick readers into clicking on low-quality content.

Mr Nayak said the investigation was misguided and without merit.

“Unfortunately, the investigation announced today into our anti-spam efforts is entirely misguided and risks harming millions of European users,” Mr Nayak, said.

“If we allowed this behaviour — letting sites use sketchy tactics to boost their ranking, instead of investing in creating high-quality content — it would enable bad actors to displace sites that don’t use those spammy tactics, and it would degrade Search for everyone,” Mr Nayak said.

But the commission said the policy hurts “a common and legitimate way for publishers to monetise their websites and content” and could violate the DMA’s rules requiring digital gatekeepers like Google to treat other businesses fairly.

The EU drew was criticised by Mr Trump in September, when it fined Google 2.95 billion euro (£2.6bn) for breaching the 27-nation bloc’s competition rules by favouring its own digital advertising services. It was the fourth time Brussels has sanctioned Google with a multibillion-euro fine in a wider battle between the EU and Big Tech that dates back to 2017.

The EU’s new investigation must conclude within 12 months. It could fine Google parent Alphabet 10% or more of annual global revenue. The commission said it could even dismantle and sell off parts of its business.