Microsoft has had its own antitrust dealings with the European Union, with its latest tussle resulting in a $732 million fine for violating its web browser menu agreement. Now a group of companies that includes Microsoft is already slamming the EU and Google over a proposal that is designed to settle Google"s own antitrust issues in Europe.
Bloomberg reports, via unnamed sources, that Google"s proposition includes offering better labeling of its own services in its search results in Europe. The proposal may also include Google adding links to rival search services, including Microsoft"s Bing, in its search results.
While the Brussels-based industry group ICOMP, which has Microsoft as one of its members, has yet to see the Google settlement proposal, that isn"t stopping the group from commenting on the unofficial reports. ICOMP"s lawyer David Wood stated, "If what has been proposed is labeling or a modified form of labeling, frankly that’s a non-starter." Wood also indicated that any settlement would have cover Google"s operations worldwide and not just with the 27 countries in the EU.
While Microsoft has made recent, if small, gains in the U.S. search market against Google, in Europe it"s a different story where Microsoft has claimed that Google"s market share is as high as 95 percent.
Source: Bloomberg | Image via Google