Google is currently dealing with an antitrust probe in Europe, as you’re probably aware. A report this week from the Financial Times suggests that Google will likely bow to regulatory pressure by taking measures to more prominently show results from competing vertical search engines.
Google is actually currently facing a lawsuit in the UK alleging that it buries competitors’ results. A new report from Bloomberg says maps provider Streetmap filed a suit against the search giant last month:
Streetmap said its complaint mirrors an antitrust probe by the European Union into whether Google favors its own services over competitors in search results.
“We have had to take this action in an effort to protect our business and attract attention to those that, like us, have started their own technology businesses, only to find them damaged by Google’s cynical manipulation of search results,” Kate Sutton, commercial director of Streetmap, said in the statement.
Other Google competitors (in the form of the Fairsearch Coalition) recently filed a complaint with the EU against Google, claiming that it is using its Android operating system to create an unfair advantage for its search business, despite the fact that competitors like Facebook and Amazon directly use Android in their own offerings.