Overview
- EU officials say monitoring indicates Google demotes publisher pages that host sponsored, affiliate or other partner content, reducing visibility and income.
- The investigation proceeds under the Digital Markets Act, exposing Alphabet to fines of up to 10% of global turnover—rising to 20% for repeat offenses—and potential structural remedies.
- Google defends its policy targeting “parasite SEO,” calls the case misguided and without merit, and points to a German court ruling that upheld its approach.
- The inquiry is narrowly focused on commercial third‑party content on publisher sites rather than overall news indexing or Google’s advertising services.
- Complaints from ActMeraki and European publishers’ associations helped trigger the case, which the Commission aims to conclude within 12 months.