The European Union (EU) has opened a formal investigation into whether Google is unfairly demoting news publisher content in Search. The Commission says it is probing a policy Google calls its site reputation abuse policy to see if the policy treats publishers in an unfair or discriminatory way.
The inquiry looks at whether the policy harms publishers who rely on Search traffic for income. Regulators say that if the policy removes legitimate publisher content from results, that could breach the rules in the Digital Markets Act. The Commission is concerned about lost advertising and subscription revenue for news outlets.
What the Probe Means
The EU can open formal investigations under the Digital Markets Act. The law calls on so called gatekeepers to treat business users fairly. If the Commission decides Google broke the rules it can impose heavy remedies. Those penalties can be large and may include fines that are a share of global revenue. The probe must normally finish within a year.
News publishers say that the Google policy can lower the visibility of some pages that carry paid or sponsored content alongside editorial content. Google says those tactics can be abused by scammers who try to push low quality or deceptive links into Search results. Regulators must now test whether the policy blocks only bad actors or whether it also blocks lawful publisher monetization.
What Comes Next
Google has justified its anti-spam efforts and explains that it is protection against misleading contents to the users. According to Google Search leadership, it will be detrimental to users to enable gaming of Search, as it will elevate the low quality content over good journalism. The firm has indicated that it will clarify its mechanisms to the regulators and it will keep on improving its anti-spam equipment.
The Commission will gather evidence. It will ask Google for documents and internal explanations. It will also talk to news organisations and industry groups. If the Commission finds a breach of the Digital Markets Act it can require changes to Google systems. It can also order behavioural or structural remedies and apply fines.
Why publishers care
Search traffic is important to both reach the readers and to receive the advertisements. The publishers who rely on the web are afraid of the policies which diminish their visibility. The EU investigation targets the clarification of the position of the line between combating fraud and ensuring viable business models of publishers. The regulators promise to exercise a trade-off between the safety of the users and just treatment of the publishers.