Google, Amazon or Facebook have proposed adaptations of their practices within the framework of surveys launched by competition authorities.
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Negotiate rather than fight foot. This is what Google is trying to do in the investigation opened by the European Commission on its online advertising practices, deemed anti -competitive. The American giant proposed in Brussels to allow other intermediaries to offer advertisers to place advertisements on its platform of YouTube videos, reported the Reuters agency on Monday, June 13. The obligation to go through Google’s tools to display on YouTube is precisely one of the reproaches raised by the Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager.
This case illustrates a trend: in recent months, the “GAFAM” (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft) have used “commitments” more. These proposals made by the company aim to find a compromise with the competition authorities. Their goal: shorten the investigation and obtain a reduced sentence.
In this spirit, Amazon is looking for an “agreement” to close the surveys open in 2019 by Brussels on its use of data, according to The Reuters agency And The politico site . Accused of using the information of its market place to promote its own products and customers, the world leader in online sales would have offered to share data with all sellers. Amazon would also be ready to display a second offer, of a competitor merchant, when one of his own products is selected in the “Buy Box”, supposed to present the most advantageous proposal.
These concessions must still be accepted by the authorities. Secret negotiations will take several months. Contacted, neither Amazon nor the European Commission make comments.
It is at Google that the desire to collaborate is the most obvious. The world leader in online research quotes as an example “privacy sandbox”, the advertising targeting tool which must replace cookies by 2023: targeted on this subject by an investigation by the British competition authority, the ‘Entreprise proposed – and has validated in February, after modification – measures to treat other players fairly.
a pragmatic tactic
In June 2021, the group had already “entered transaction”, “without challenging the facts”, in an investigation into online advertising, had welcomed the French competition authority – which had still Assort the concessions of a fine of 220 million euros. The search engine also proposed “commitments” to the authority in the case opposing it to press publishers on the neighboring right remunerating the extracts of articles.
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