EU Launches Investigation into Google‘s Anti-Spam Practices, Google Calls Probe ‘Misguided’
Brussels – The European Commission has launched an investigation into Google’s anti-spam policies, prompting a swift response from the tech giant, which asserts the probe is “misguided” and “without merit.” The investigation, announced today, centers on whether Google’s methods for combating spam violate the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Google’s anti-spam policies work by de-ranking content attempting to artificially boost its search ranking through paid endorsements or deceptive tactics, according to a recent Google blog post. The company argues these policies protect users from manipulative practices and ensure websites competing on content quality aren’t overshadowed by “spammy” tactics-frequently enough referred to as “parasite SEO.”
“Google’s anti-spam policy is essential to how we fight deceptive pay-for-play tactics that degrade our results,” stated Pandu Nayak, Chief scientist of Search at Google, in the blog post. “Google Search is built to show trustworthy results, and we’re deeply concerned about any effort that would hurt the quality of our results and interfere with how we rank websites.”
Google points to a previous ruling by a German court that dismissed a similar claim, finding its anti-spam policy “valid, reasonable, and applied consistently.” Though, the European Commission will now assess whether the policies comply with the DMA, which aims to ensure fair competition in digital markets.
Violations of the DMA can result in substantial fines, perhaps reaching up to 10% of a company’s annual global revenue. The outcome of the investigation remains to be seen, but it underscores the increasing scrutiny faced by large tech companies regarding their market practices and content moderation policies.
