Google has already responded to the European Commission's antitrust charges. The said complaints addressed by the tech company are regarding Google Shopping and AdSense. The Commission alleges that they were exploiting the popularity of their search engine to promote its own services. However, Google insisted that the cases against them lack evidence.
According to TechCrunch, a spokesperson for the Commission confirmed that they have received Google's responses.
Google's Response
The European Commission had granted Google a deadline extension. Google was given until Nov. 3 to respond on the AdSense complaint and until Nov. 7 on the Google Shopping complaint. The recent post by Google's Senior Vice President and General Counsel Kent Walker centered on their defense of their Shopping service. To even make their case clearer, Google titled the post "Improving Quality Is Not Anti-Competitive".
Walker explained that the improvements on the Google Shopping are not harming competition. In fact, Google pointed out that the display of more useful ads actually benefits their advertisers and users. It will be a lot easier for customers to shop for something with informative ads. They insisted that the quality or relevance of the information showed were never compromised.
They reiterated that the said claims against their services are wrong as a matter of fact, law and economics.
Google Cites Amazon
In building a good defense for its Shopping service, Google cited Amazon. Walker revealed that there was a rapid increase amount of traffic from their search pages to sites like Amazon and eBay. Apparently, this proved that they are not "favoring" their own ads as the Commission had said.
He also shared the results of a recent study on German online shoppers. Google mentioned that a third of online consumers first go to Amazon, only 14.3 percent to Google, and 6.7 percent to price comparison sites regardless of where they actually make their purchase.
Google also rebutted the Commission's claim that consumers don't go to Amazon to compare product features and prices.
The Change In Online Shopping
The competition among search engines, price comparison sites, merchant platforms and merchant makes online shopping a highly dynamic and growing market. Walker also said that consumers have a mind of their own. They can choose whatever site they want to shop in.
Furthermore, Google added that consumers have changed the way shop online. The use of mobiles and "dedicated apps" are some examples.
