Report from Courthouse News
In Brief – The European Commission has announced two “specification proceedings” to direct Google in setting policies related to third-party AI chatbot competitors that comply with its Digital Markets Act (DMA) obligations. One process concerns Google’s obligation to provide third-party developers with free and effective interoperability with features controlled by Google’s Android operating system so that AI developers have equally effective access to the same device features as Google’s own AI services, such as Gemini. The second set of proceedings concerns Google Search and will direct the digital giant on how to grant AI chatbot providers anonymized ranking, query, click and view data held by Google Search on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms to allow the chatbot competitors to optimize their services and offer users genuine alternatives to Google Search. The two proceedings, which are scheduled to run for six months, are not findings of Google non-compliance with the DMA but instead formalize the regulatory dialogue on how the company can meet its legal obligations.
Context – Apple and Google were two of the first three “gatekeepers” to face DMA investigations and both were found to be out of compliance regarding their app store rules and fees. Google faced a second DMA investigation of their general search service and their treatment of “vertical search” competitors. Google continues to try to resolve concerns over how its general search service handles “vertical search” to the satisfaction of the Commission, vertical search competitors, and large online advertisers like airlines and hotel chains. The Commission has since opened a second DMA investigation of Google search, involving the ranking of online publishers, as well as initiated a separate antitrust investigation of Google’s broader AI practices. The latest Google “specification proceedings” parallels a similar one the Commission undertook with Apple starting in September 2024 to require the phone giant to provide peripherals competitors, such as for smart watches and headphones, with equal access to iPhone capabilities, eventually imposing new rules on Apple in 2025. Apple strenuously objected.