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. Allegedly, Google started manipulating search results in some European markets as early as January 2008, and the European Commission is not happy about it. Now, Google has until August 17th to respond to the commission’s claims. Reports have surfaced that the original deadline was July 7th, but an extension was granted to allow Google to properly review the issue at hand. And unless Google can pull out some seriously compelling arguments by the middle of August, it could be facing some non-trivial fines. Orange is the new Black Of course, all of this antitrust discussion immediately brings back memories of the Microsoft antitrust debacles in the US and EU. It didn’t end well for Microsoft in the aughts, and there’s a decent chance that Google could face a similar fate. Microsoft easily survived the repercussions, and it’s pretty obvious that Google wouldn’t shut its doors either. However, the threat of fees, negative press, and added scrutiny will probably be enough to make the Mountain View company stay on the straight and narrow. A few days ago, a Yelp-backed study was released publicly, and it provides evidence that Google may be purposefully manipulating its search results to increase the reach of its own products. Yelp seems to have an axe to grind with Google, but this study is just another log on the fire. Many people have been suspicious of Google’s monopolistic tendencies for years now, so it’s no surprise that the EU is getting in on the fun. The European Commission’s initial complaint was filed back in April of this year, and our own Joel Hruska gave us a breakdown of the issue. We all know that only the first handful of results really matter, so the idea that Google is pushing the competition below the fold is worrisome. And since Google has moved into the OS and hardware space in the last decade, the potential for abuse is strong. Are you being manipulated by Google every time you use your Android phone? Frankly, I’m more than a little scared that the answer might be “Yes.” If this ordeal bothers you as much as it does me, you’re probably considering giving Google the boot. For search, you can give DuckDuckGo a try. They beat the privacy drum pretty hard, so it’s nice to know you’re not being tracked by your search provider. You can swap out Chrome for Opera, and keep pretty much all of your extensions. Replacing Android and ChromeOS is a little bit trickier, but there are plenty of third-party solutions for the adventurous among us. Source http://www.extremetech.com/
