Google proposes search policy shifts to avert EU fines
Alphabet offered to modify its search policies following complaints from European publishers. The move aims to resolve an EU investigation and avoid heavy fines.
ALPHABET INC-CL A offered to modify its search spam policies to resolve a European Commission investigation into potential antitrust violations. The proposal follows complaints from publishers that the tech giant's "site reputation abuse" policy unfairly demotes third-party content. Avoiding a formal breach of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) is critical, as non-compliance carries fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover.
### Google Moves to Settle DMA Dispute Google submitted the proposal after EU regulators opened an investigation in November. The probe focused on "parasite SEO," a practice where third-party pages leverage a host site's ranking signals to manipulate search results. European regulators found that Google's current enforcement demotes news media websites that include content from commercial partners.
