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THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION announced that it has reached a provisional agreement with Google that could end an antitrust investigation which lasted three years.
The company, which was accused of squeezing out competitors from its search results, will now display search results from three of its competitors alongside its own results and mark them in a way that is clear for users to see.
If the deal isn’t confirmed, Google risks being fined more than $5 billion, or ten per cent of its annual worldwide turnover..
The proposal would not only apply to existing services but also to design changes of those services and any new services Google introduces in the future.
Other concessions that Google will make include giving content providers an extensive opt-out from the use of their content in its specialised search services if they wish, without being penalised, removing exclusivity requirements in its agreements with publishers for the provision of search advertisements and removing restrictions on the ability for search advertising campaigns to be run on competing platforms.
Speaking about the proposal, the Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy, Joaquín Almunia, said:
My mission is to protect competition to the benefit of consumers, not competitors. I believe that the new proposal obtained from Google after long and difficult talks can now address the Commission’s concerns.Without preventing Google from improving its own services, it provides users with real choice between competing services presented in a comparable way; it is then up to them to choose the best alternative.
This way, both Google and its rivals will be able and encouraged to innovate and improve their offerings. Turning this proposal into a legally binding obligation for Google would ensure that competitive conditions are both restored quickly and maintained over the next years.
If the terms are accepted, local and search results will display competitors alongside traditional advertisements on both desktop and mobile devices.
(Images: europa.eu)
The European Commission will discuss the changes with Google’s competitors first before it decides whether the agreement should be made legally binding.
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A tad late. Election on horizon. Independents have done no good..
@Willy Malone:
But they have done little real harm either!
@Michael Kavanagh: sad state of affairs when we begin judging politicians based on who “made less of a mess”
@Willy Malone: I will agree with you on this one. Independents can’t be trusted in government. When unpopular decisions are to be made they can’t be trusted to tow the line and always start moaning when an election is coming near
@Kian:Politicians are the REAL MESS
@Willy Malone: would be better off encouraging his constituents to shop local and pay the little extra in doing so.
@Willy Malone: out comes the kite
@Kian: Nice one Kian. I also smell a election in the air.
€8 Million is the most all these closures will “save”, but yet the Government thinks it’s OK to throw away over €750 million a year on foreign aid to Third World dictators.
https://www.irishaid.ie/what-we-do/how-our-aid-works/where-the-money-goes/
2015 figures
@Edward Smith: “Edward” our track record on foreign aid should be something we are really proud of.
BTW your Facebook account doesn’t seem to exist….you feeling OK?
@Ricky Spanish: I don’t know what’s up with my FB page, I can see it.
Anyway I didn’t use it to troll and abuse Ruth Coppinger.
that is what the government would like u to believe in regards to post office closures i find it impossible to believe that the post office in enniskeane remains opened it is a wee place 6 people would pack it by the way what money do sub post offices cost on post each year for enniskeane in space is not big enough for the population in that area
People don’t seem to want to live in villages & towns. If they did, maybe they’d have better local services – back to Planning System!
@AMKavanagh: yep, spot on Sir
@AMKavanagh:
If they had local(ish) jobs the prospect might be more attractive.
@AMKavanagh: Not sure how you came to that conclusion, the majority of people living in rural counties like Cavan and Leitrim already live outside of the urban towns and there is no indication that this will change. Outside of the town where I live there are around forty townlands which go to make up the local postal District. However An Post says that because the town/village has less than 500 people then the post office should close, they are not even considering the rest of the community of 800 people living within 3km of the local post office.
@Chris Kirk: i think he means if the people in rural Ireland actually lived in the towns and villages instead of being scattered over the countryside in one-off bungalows then services likes post offices, buses etc. Would be more viable, which is true.
@Chris Kirk: Its not the delivery office it is the retail office. If people used them they would stay open. Thats the problem An Post receive no government money so it is a business that has to break even at least. Keeping offices open that cost money is bad for business.
If the government or the people want to stop it then it was simple enough.
Use the Post Office, but people dont. I do but I used to work there and I know what spending a few minutes a week makes to turnover. If everybody else did there would not be a problem
A community banking system already exists in this country via Credit Unions. And half of those are losing money, because ratio of lending to deposits is too low. So there’s unlikely to be an appetite from depositors for the German sparkasse type community bank. It’s all about risk and who ultimately carries it. Not the Government; it has enough of that on its plate!
New online players in the marketplace like Flender and LinkedFinance, offer better rates to Depositors and excellent choices to business borrowers with the well thought out plan in profitability, sustainability and solid security.
Michael needs to educate himself on new realities for sustainable banking in Ireland.
@Rory J Leonard: Linked Finance offer investments which can go down too.
Never heard of him, but he’s got his name on the paper at last!
@John Mulligan:
But his hand was obviously slapped out of the pork barrel!
Pity the only buzzword he can think of is “Brexit”
come and have a look at the post office in enniskeane co cork and compare it to what a good post office looks like
Every parish needs a new pump
Too many of the post offices need revamping and modernising to international standards and the government doesn’t see a return on any investment from a purely financial perspective. The post office is part of the fabric of what makes rural Ireland and we should be doing everything reasonable to preserve our culture. Very shortsighted decision that needs to be challenged constructively so do your bit to reverse it no matter where you live.
@Brian: It is not paid for by government at all. It is a stand alone semi state company as regards international standards the system they use ids the best in the world and owned and created by them with IBM years ago. It is the industry top standard.
The reasons they are closing is lack of use. The cost millions each year and not just the obvious costs either.
People to blame the people that dont use the post office
I reluctantly use a big Dublin post office regularly. The staff are scruffy and seem bored with their jobs. The place itself is dull and smelly. I’m all for An Post having a good shake up in Dublin anyway.
@Ali murray: Staff cant be scuffy they would be reported, sorry I am sure An Post will put in cheer leaders and flashing lights for you. Oh and read any of the articles all week. No Dublin Offices are being touched
have your say