What’s this about?
My, my.
This really is the Bigger of Two Evils. The EU vs Google. Google vs the EU.
How to choose who you want to win that particular scrap?
All this Google Shopping / EUFine malarkey could be over soon, or this Google caving business could be the opening salvo in the next battle.
Read this exciting story extracted from TWIS SEO News & Updates 01 Sept 2017.
#SEONews #GoogleShopping #EUFine
Google Caves to EU Shopping Fines
Summary:
- Who says the EU isn’t good for something?
- According to Reuter’s, Google (Aplhabet) is now getting ready to comply with the recent demands from the EU that it offers equal treatment to all in its shopping service.
- There’s no word yet on whether Google’s submission has been accepted, or whether the EU will continue to litigate this further. Or indeed, if Google’s submission is good enough to prevent further sanctions.
- This follows the Google Fined €2.4bn by EU for Anti Competitive Google Shopping Service story we revealed a few weeks ago.
- Google has until 28th Sept 2017 to stop its anti-competitive practices in this field.
Actions to take:
- If you are in the Shopping space, keep a very close eye on this story.
- Do not expect Shopping to magically disappear, or for it to suddenly be open season, but things may improve for retailers who are not part of the program.
- I have my doubts that things will substantially change. It is likely that Google’s solution does not quite fit, and this gets litigated further.
- Click here to contact me to discuss Google Shopping.
Discussion:
Most people I know believe Google is acting as a monopoly in a number of areas and that it uses that market power as its shareholders expect.
Things in the EU are terribly slow-moving. This case has been dragging on for years, and it is not likely to be resolved in the next few weeks.
Traditionally, when companies come back with solutions, they treat it like a first offer. It’s rarely accepted, and if it is, should you have offered so much?
More info:
The State of SEO Mid-2017 Released
TL;DR
- Google has made an initial offer to comply with the EU’s antitrust settlement.
- There might yet be a bi of back and forth about this.
- Read The State of SEO in mid-2017.
- Read about how Google’s Mobile First Index is not Mobile Friendly.
- Finally, get your content ranking well on Google by starting to understand Find Crawl Index.
Thanks for reading. If you would like to discuss what these changes mean for your web property, or would like to know how to implement them, please feel free to contact me.
