Overview
- Brussels launched a Digital Markets Act investigation into whether Google’s Site Reputation Abuse Policy unlawfully downgrades news and publisher pages that host third‑party commercial content.
- The Commission aims to conclude the probe within 12 months and could levy fines of up to 10% of global revenue, rising to 20% for repeat breaches, with structural remedies possible in severe cases.
- Google rejects the allegations as misdirected, arguing the policy targets spam and ranking manipulation, with Search lead Pandu Nayak saying it protects users from low‑quality content piggybacking on trusted sites.
- At Idealo’s damages trial in Berlin, presiding judge Michael Vogel said the EU’s 2017 shopping decision governs an initial period and that diverted traffic can support a finding of harm, though the recoverable sum remains uncertain.
- Idealo seeks €3.3 billion for alleged self‑preferencing in Google Shopping from 2008–2023, while Google points to changes implemented after 2017 that opened Shopping units to rival comparison sites.