BRUSSELS, June 20 (Reuters) - Alphabet's
Google has proposed more changes to its search results to better
showcase rivals in a bid to stave off a possible hefty EU
antitrust fine, according to documents seen by Reuters.
Google's latest proposal came three months after the
European Commission charged the U.S. tech giant with favouring
its own services such as Google Shopping, Google Hotels and
Google Flights over rivals in breach of the Digital Markets Act
(DMA).
The landmark DMA sets out a list of dos and don'ts for Big
Tech aimed at reining in their power and giving rivals more room
to compete and consumers more choices.
Under Google's new proposal a vertical search service (VSS)
selected on objective and non-discriminatory criteria would get
its own box at the top of the search page with the same format,
information and features as Google's, the document said.
The box would contain three direct links picked by the VSS,
to hotels, airlines, restaurants and transport.
Other VSS, which are specialised search engines within
Google, would be ranked below but without a box unless users
click on them.
"We do not agree with the (Commission's) preliminary
findings' position but, on a without prejudice basis, we want to
find a workable solution to resolve the present proceedings,"
the documents sent by both Google and the Commission to the
rivals said.
The rivals will provide feedback at a July 8 meeting called
by the Commission. A number of rivals, who did not want to be
named ahead of the meeting, told Reuters that the changes still
do not go far enough to ensure a level playing field.