Speaker 1: The European Commission find Google two point four billion euros
Speaker 1: for promoting its own shopping search results over competitors, and
Speaker 1: it gave the company until tomorrow to make changes to
Speaker 1: allow other services a better chance to compete. To comply
Speaker 1: with the order, Google has announced it will make its
Speaker 1: shopping service into a standalone company that will have to
Speaker 1: bid against other companies for space at the top of
Speaker 1: the Google Search page. The CEO of Kelcu, however, Who's
Speaker 1: Which is one of Google's competitors in Europe, told Bloomberg
Speaker 1: News that selling slash to competitors won't solve the problems
Speaker 1: in the shopping search market. Here to talk with us
Speaker 1: about Google's move to comply with the regulator's order is Thomas,
Speaker 1: graphic partner at Cleary Gottlieb. Thomas, can you explain to
Speaker 1: us exactly how Google's proposal here will work? Um? Yes, okay,
Speaker 1: So uh in a nott shell, what Google is going
Speaker 1: to do is it's going to give rival comparation shopping
Speaker 1: services the same chance to lays product thats on Google
Speaker 1: Search as it gives to Google Shopping. So there will
Speaker 1: be full equal treatment between comparation shopping services such as
Speaker 1: CALCU and Google Shopping. Google Shopping will have to bid
Speaker 1: in competition with comparation shopping services for placement of its
Speaker 1: product that's on Google Search. Will the auction aspect of this,
Speaker 1: which might drive up the price of ads, be a
Speaker 1: problem for EU regulators? Um? Did the auction process is
Speaker 1: in here? And in the nature of of the issue
Speaker 1: here because sort of what is that issue? Is that
Speaker 1: the product that that Google shows on its on its
Speaker 1: general search result pages, these are ads. They have always
Speaker 1: been auctioned off. What is going to change is that
Speaker 1: comparation shopping services will have the same opportunity to bid
Speaker 1: for these ads, and and so they will achieve the
Speaker 1: equal treatment that the European Commission is looking for. Well,
Speaker 1: why is it then that the competitors don't seem to
Speaker 1: like this idea very much? So it's uh, it's obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, different people may have different views, but what
Speaker 1: they are looking for? Um what what the views of
Speaker 1: the competitors are? It's not really here the benchmark for compliance.
Speaker 1: The Commission has set out the paramidals for compliance in
Speaker 1: its decision and that's what Google is working towards. Now.
Speaker 1: It's possible that you know, over the process of this investigation. Uh,
Speaker 1: some of the complainants have uh developed expectations what this
Speaker 1: outcome will be, and it may be that, you know,
Speaker 1: some of them are disappointment about the outcome. And it's
Speaker 1: also it's the case that at earlier stages in the investigation,
Speaker 1: the Commission, in one of its charge sheets, suggested that
Speaker 1: these arts should be made available to competitors almost at
Speaker 1: a near free basis at once sent the fixed price.
Speaker 1: But that fell away, that's no longer in the decision.
Speaker 1: So some of the complainants, like Calco may still be
Speaker 1: thinking that that's you know, that's the solution, but that's
Speaker 1: not what is in the decision. Um. Your Competition Commissioner
Speaker 1: margretvest day Er said last week that she would start
Speaker 1: investigating if Google's offer doesn't work and if companies that
Speaker 1: complained about Google's behavior are still unhappy and we have
Speaker 1: Kelku and found them already complaining. So is that a
Speaker 1: built in problem? Yes, so I think, you know, I
Speaker 1: think it's normal that the Commission will listen to market participants,
Speaker 1: but ultimately the benchmark is not the view of competitors
Speaker 1: or the market participants. The benchmark for compliance is what
Speaker 1: the decision sets out as its remedy and the requirements
Speaker 1: that are specified in the decision for a compliant remedy. So, Thomas,
Speaker 1: do you think that the Commission is, despite the whatever
Speaker 1: complaints the competitors may have, likely to approve what Google
Speaker 1: has done as being in compliance with disorder. So there
Speaker 1: is no formal approvement approval for seen in this process.
Speaker 1: And that's that's different from the commitment procedure that Google
Speaker 1: was engaged with the European Commission earlier in the process,
Speaker 1: where Google was trying to negotiate commitments and those commitments
Speaker 1: required approval, required the decision of acceptance by the Commission. Here,
Speaker 1: the Commission has adopted its decision. It has said how
Speaker 1: Google needs to comply, and it's then for Google to
Speaker 1: ensure this compliance. And there's not going to be any
Speaker 1: kind of formal approval um obviously if there is, if
Speaker 1: there is, if there is non compliance, then the commit
Speaker 1: may intervene, but it will not it will not issue
Speaker 1: a formal approval decision. All right, Well, our thanks to
Speaker 1: Thomas Graff, a partner at Clary Gottlieb, who joined us
Speaker 1: from Brussels to talk about Google spinning off its shopping
Speaker 1: services in the European Union into a separate company