Google’s price comparison service will compete with rivals for the right to appear at the top of the search engine’s home page, in an effort to comply with an European Union anti-trust ruling.
Google Shopping will also operate as a separate business, seeking to make a profit, albeit it will continue to be part of Google’s parent company, Alphabet.
The changes, introduced from Wednesday, are an attempt to answer the EU’s claim that the Google shopping service could always outbid others for the advertising space at the top of the site, as its cash would not be leaving the wider company.
The shopping service will have its own accounts, which it will provide to the European commission to scrutinise, and there will be Chinese walls within the company to ensure it gains no competitive advantage, Google said.
The tech giant was forced to make the change after the European commission ruled in June that it had been artificially and illegally promoting its own price comparison service in searches, denying consumers real choice and rival firms the ability to compete on a level playing field.
Google was set a deadline of 28 September to change its practices, or face huge daily fines. The company is appealing against an initial €2.4bn (£2.1bn) fine tabled by the commission last June as a consequence of the ruling.
The commission has been aware of Google’s plan since August but Brussels has not given any indication as to whether the change goes far enough.
Competitors in the price comparison market are not expected to find the change acceptable, however, and there is talk of a boycott of the internet search engine’s auctions. Such an outcome would mean Google’s shopping services ads would continue to monopolise the top of the site.
It is understood that of 300 price comparison sites, only about a dozen have so far agreed to take part in auctions for the advertising spots at the top of its search page.
Al Verney, a spokesperson for Google, said that whatever the outcome the company had provided a level playing field that should satisfy the European regulator.
He said: “We’re implementing a remedy to comply with the European commission’s recent decision.
“We’re giving comparison shopping services the same opportunity to show shopping ads from merchants on Google’s search results pages as we give to Google Shopping.
“Google Shopping will compete on equal terms and will operate as if it were a separate business, participating in the auction in the same way as everyone else.”
From Wednesday evening, users searching for products may notice a small change to the advertising panel at the top of the search screen that shows pictures of products with links to retailers’ websites.
Instead of Google’s shopping comparison service monopolising all the slots, the name of the price comparison site that has won the ad space auction will be displayed below the picture of whatever product is being sought by the user.
The commission’s fine of €2.4bn was said to take into account the “duration and gravity of the infringement”, and was based on Google’s revenue from its comparison shopping service in the 13 countries where the illegality occurred.
It was claimed by Brussels that Google’s illegal promotion of its shopping service caused traffic to it to jump 45-fold in the UK, 35-fold in Germany and 19-fold in France. The changes brought in by Google will only be seen by users of the search engine in the European Economic Area (EEA).
