EU Proposal: Google to Release Search and Gemini Data

The EU Commission has informed Alphabet subsidiary Google how its search engine offering can better comply with the requirements of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This is intended to compel the US corporation to remove obstacles for competitors. “Data is a key input for online search and for developing new services, including AI,” says Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera.

EU wants to define parameters

The authority has not yet revealed to the public exactly which measures the Commission is now proposing. Only this much: Third parties should receive concrete data on conventional searches and AI searches; the scope of search data to be shared with others should be expanded; and the frequency and method for doing so should also be re-regulated. However, since Google is not required to provide this data to third parties free of charge, the EU Commission wants to define parameters for how an appropriate, but not competition-hindering, price can be formed.

Public Consultation

The EU Commission will make the concrete proposals available for discussion by the interested public starting Friday. “With this public consultation, we want to hear from the market on the most effective ways for Google to share search data with competing online search engine providers,” says Henna Virkkunen, the EU Commissioner responsible for the digital single market. The Commission's step today was expected in April, after the EU initiated a corresponding procedure on January 27. Solutions are to be found within six months as part of a “specification procedure” to address possible market distortions promptly, rather than letting years go by.

The discussion about potentially impermissibly competition-restricting behavior by the provider has been ongoing for several years, and has become even more intense since the Digital Markets Act came into force. Google had already announced changes two months ago.

(dahe)