Alphabet's Google said it was changing how certain websites with third-party content rank in search results across most of Europe, a move to appease antitrust regulators and avoid a potentially hefty fine.
The company in 2024 introduced a policy to hide parts of websites or entire pages in search results once a human reviewer had determined that elements on the site didn't comply with Google's spam policies.
The group said its site reputation policy was aimed at improving search quality, preventing third parties from publishing content on a trusted website without close oversight from its owners just to exploit that site's good reputation to rank higher in search.
However, the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said in November last year that Google was demoting websites from news organizations and other publishers in its search results when those pages included content from commercial partners.
EU officials opened a probe into a potential breach of the Digital Markets Act, a law that allows the bloc to fine offenders up to 10% of their annual global revenue, or even up to 20% in case of repeated infringements.
Google said Friday that it was changing how it enforces its site reputation policy within the European Economic Area, which includes all 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
The company said that, starting Aug. 30, actions taken against websites won't affect search results for users inside the EEA, though the affected portion of a site may be separated in Google's systems so that it ranks independently from the rest of the site over time. Actions taken against websites will continue to affect search results outside the EEA.
"While we remain concerned that an overbroad application of the DMA could prevent us from addressing real threats to the integrity of our search results, we believe this approach enables us to combat attempts to manipulate search results for our users," Google said.
An EU spokesman said the bloc welcomed the change to the policy, which he said unfairly penalized publishers and other business users of Google Search solely for hosting third-party content. He added that the commission would monitor application of the new policy to ensure it is compliant with the DMA.
The change spares Google from further scrutiny in Europe and shields it from what could have resulted in yet another fine after recent setbacks. Last month, the EU levied a roughly $1 billion fine on the group, saying it unfairly favored its own services on its search engine and that the company imposed restrictions on app developers.
Also last month, Google lost a lengthy battle to overturn a $4.69 billion fine that the EU imposed on the company in 2018 over agreements that required device manufacturers to preinstall its search engine and Chrome browser on Android devices.
News Corp, owner of Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal, has a commercial agreement to supply content on Google platforms.
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