Dozens of Google rivals call for EU tech law to use in anti-trust case

European Union regulators have been urged by 43 European companies to deploy new tech firm rules to make sure that Google allows for more competition for its search function. Google was fined €2.4 billion by the European Commission several years ago and was ordered to stop favouring its own shopping service over competitors.

Despite Google agreeing to give equal preference to its competitors when they bid in an auction for adverts, many rivals are not happy with the current situation. Major European companies, including idealo, PriceRunner and Kelkoo, sent a letter to European Union antitrust head Margrethe Vestager, saying the agreement was not sufficient.

“The Commission needs to re-open space on general search results pages for the most relevant providers, by removing Google’s Shopping Units that allow no competition but lead to higher prices and less choice for consumers and an unfair transfer of profit margins from merchants and competing CSSs to Google,” the 43 companies said in a letter to Vestager.

A number of Comparison-Shopping Services, or CSSs, argue that the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that aims to control the power tech firms, which is set to come into force next May, will be breached by Google. Several anti-trust cases have been levied against Google with billions in fines extracted from the tech giant.

According to reporting by Reuters, Google is also expected to face anti-trust charges next year relating to its digital advertising company. With over $100 billion in sales in 2021, Google’s ad business accounts for the vast majority of its annual revenue, despite efforts to diversify. Google has appealed many court decisions and denies it is undertaking anti-competitive practices.