Google is likely to have to agree to more concessions before the European Union's antitrust probe into the web giant is settled, says Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia (pictured).
The world's number one web firm has been under investigation for almost three years over claims that its search results prioritise its own services, such as YouTube, by putting them at the top of search results. Critics argue it represents an effort to squeeze out competition by making their service redundant or by forcing them to become reliant on Google.
"We will analyse the responses we have received, we will ask Google, probably, I cannot anticipate this formally, almost 100 per cent we will ask Google: you should improve your proposals," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told lawmakers at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The Competition Commission initially set May 26 as the deadline for complainants against Google's practices to come forward and submit evidence, but it has since been extended until June 27 following requests for extra time from various organisations.
Almunia also revealed that the Competition Commission has yet to decide whether to take action over claims by organisations including Microsoft, Nokia and Oracle that Google's "Trojan Horse" Android operating system gives the firm an unfair advantage in the mobile market.
"We have received a formal complaint regarding some aspects of the Android ecosystem. We are working on it, we have not decided if we will open or not a formal investigation," he said.
Google recently submitted its own concessions to the EU in an attempt to end the antitrust investigation against it. However, no matter what concessions are eventually drawn up by the EU, Alumina has previously stated that they'll be legally binding for Google.
The EU isn't the only organisation examining Google's search practices, with Canada and the US also set to launch antitrust investigations. The latter comes less than six months after the US Federal Trade Commission closed a previous antitrust examination surrounding Google.
