According to reports, Google is reportedly frantically publishing advertisements, emails and targeted social media content to EU politicians and officials in a last-ditch effort to revise the EU’s new regulations for big technology companies.
With the coming into force of the new EU regulation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), approaching, Google executives may not have paid enough attention to some provisions that could have serious business implications. But now, Google is stepping up its efforts.
A Google insider said recently: The company’s top executives have always known about the Digital Markets Act, but they are only now realizing its seriousness. Google’s lobbying campaign includes direct lobbying by Google itself, as well as lobbying by several industry groups funded by Google.
Dutch MEP Kim van Sbarentak. (Kim van Sparrentak) said he had noticed a marked increase in Google’s lobbying activity in recent weeks, and the company’s message was that suppressing Google would hurt small businesses.
Spallentuck said she was invited to discuss her views with Google and was invited to a Google event on “The Benefits of Digital Marketing for Small Businesses.” Separately, the Connected Commerce Council, an industry group that works with Google and Amazon, also lobbied Sballentuck, saying in a letter: “Don’t make it difficult for our business.”
Other MEPs and officials also said their Twitter accounts had recently been flooded with ads from the tech lobby, also about some of Google’s concerns. An EU diplomat said: I have received too many pushes about it.
The Digital Markets Act, which has passed the European Parliament and is likely to come into force in early 2023, aims to curb the power of the “gatekeepers” of big tech companies. So-called “gatekeepers” include companies like Google, whose platforms dominate the online economy. Last week, Germany officially defined Google as a “gatekeeper” and prepared to impose stricter domestic surveillance on it.
Google is concerned that the law will prevent it from promoting its business on search results pages for travel and hotel comparison services, among others. That could force Google to “fundamentally change the design of the general search page,” said Thomas Hoppner, a lawyer at Hausfeld LLP.
At this point, Google’s sense of urgency is partly because of its previous experience. Late last year, a Luxembourg court fined Google 2.42 billion euros on monopoly grounds for promoting its own shopping comparison service prominently on search results pages.
Weeks after the ruling, Google CEO Sundar Pichai discussed the decision with EU digital and competition chief Margrethe Vestager in an online meeting. case and future technical regulations. In addition, Kent Walker, global affairs chief at Google parent Alphabet, held a similar meeting with other high-level regulators, including EU Vice President Vera Jourova.
“Google’s business model relies on favoring its own services in search results, putting competitors at a disadvantage,” said Thomas Vinse, legal counsel for FairSearc, a government lobbying and user rights advocacy group. It’s a threat.”