Overview
- Commission monitoring found ranking demotions when media pages include third‑party or commercial partner content.
- Officials will examine whether these automated penalties curtail legitimate monetization models and editorial partnerships used by publishers.
- The scope spans newspapers, magazines, vertical sites and portals, with effects reported across large outlets and small specialist publishers.
- If non‑compliance is established, fines can reach 10% of Alphabet’s global turnover or 20% for repeat breaches, and structural remedies may be ordered.
- The Commission plans to notify Alphabet of preliminary findings and aims to conclude the investigation within 12 months.