It is essential that the commitments, offered this week by Google to the European Commission, bring an end to the manipulation of search results which threaten to turn the open Internet into a closed Google Shop, say the publishers.
Given Google’s pan-European market share of 94% in search, any remedies imposed on Google should leave no loopholes for circumvention and safeguard the open Internet to the benefit of free markets, businesses and consumers alike.
EMMA President, David Hanger, said: “It is vital that the European Commission ensures a complete and sustainable resolution of all concerns that have been identified in the past regarding Google’s dominant position in search.”
ENPA President, Ivar Rusdal, said: “European Commission Vice-President Almunia has given assurances that newspaper publishers will be involved in discussions on the remedies offered by Google. These discussions should now take place as a matter of urgency, with the aim of achieving a real and binding solution to all of the serious concerns raised by publishers.”
Press publishers have stressed that any commitments offered by Google should ensure effective and sustainable solutions to the concerns raised as regards Google’s activities as a news aggregator, as well as its role in the online search and advertising markets. Any failure to do so would have grave consequences for competition, innovation and consumer choice.
ENPA and EMMA members in a number of countries are actively involved in competition complaints against Google, in response to Google's activities which threaten to undermine fair competition in online markets across Europe.
About EMMA
EMMA says: “EMMA, the European Magazine Media Association, is the unique and complete representation of Europe’s magazine media, which is today enjoyed by millions of consumers on various platforms, encompassing both paper and digital formats. EMMA represents 15.000 publishing houses, publishing 50.000 magazine titles across Europe in print and digital.”
About ENPA
The ENPA says: “The European Newspaper Publishers' Association is an international non-profit organisation representing newspapers on all platforms. ENPA represents over 5,200 national, regional and local newspaper titles, published in EU Member States, plus Norway, Switzerland and Serbia. More than 150 million printed newspapers are sold and read by over 300 million Europeans every day, in addition to the millions of readers of digital newspapers. Newspaper revenues in the European Union amounted to approximately €36 billion in 2011.”
