Google, Microsoft, More Tech Giants to Follow Transparent Search Ranking Guidelines Set by EU

The EU guidelines will be followed up next week by the publication of draft rules that could eventually impose further restrictions.

By Reuters | Updated: 8 December 2020 09:56 IST

Google, Microsoft, More Tech Giants to Follow Transparent Search Ranking Guidelines Set by EU

Google's online practices have landed it total fines of about EUR 8 billion (roughly Rs. 71,500 crores)

Highlights

The guidelines will take immediate effect
Guidelines require platforms to identify parameter that determine ranking
Vestager will on December 15 present draft rules to rein in tech giants

Alphabet unit Google, Microsoft and other tech giants will have to be more transparent in how they rank online search results, under European Commission guidelines out on Monday.

The guidelines, which take immediate effect, will be followed up next week by the publication of draft rules that could eventually impose further restrictions on the tech sector.

Smaller rivals and some companies have long complained about arbitrary and opaque practices tech giants employ that affect how their products and services are ranked in search results, especially when that means they are placed far below the bigger companies.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

Google's online search practices have landed it total fines of more than EUR 8 billion (roughly Rs. 71,500 crores) over the period 2017-19 from EU antitrust regulators who found it had unfairly pushed its own products to the disadvantage of competitors.

The Commission said the guidelines require online platforms to identify the algorithmic parameters that determine ranking and to share them with companies.

"These guidelines set the standard for algorithmic ranking transparency and will increase fairness in the online platform economy, which drives innovation and welfare for millions of Europeans," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

Google Pay Now Lets You Buy and Send Digital Gift Cards in India

Vestager will on December 15 present draft rules to rein in tech giants, setting out a list of dos and don'ts and increasing their responsibility to take down illegal and harmful content from their platforms, with fines and other sanctions to encourage compliance.

Neither Microsoft nor Google responded immediately to requests for comment.

Are Micromax In 1b, In Note 1 good enough to take the brand to the top in India?? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.