The Bundeskartellamt is going on the offensive against the large digital corporations.
First, the cartel guards brought proceedings against Facebook, then one against Amazon, and now, within a few days, three in a row against Google.
According to the principle, it is always about paragraph 19a of the amended Law against Restraints of Competition (GWB), which came into force in January - about "abusive behavior by companies with paramount cross-market importance for competition".
The Bundeskartellamt assumes this importance in the case of digital companies.
Michael Hanfeld
responsible editor for features online and "media".
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The antitrust watchdogs take three steps against Google and its parent company Alphabet: The first procedure is to determine that Google's business conduct is of “cross-market significance”.
According to the President of the Cartel Office, Andreas Mundt, there are many indications - “due to the large number of digital services such as the search engine, YouTube, Maps, the Android operating system or the Chrome browser”.
In the second procedure, the Federal Cartel Office looks at Google's handling of its users' data.
The central question in this case, according to Mundt, is "whether consumers have sufficient options for using their data through Google if they want to use Google services".
The Federal Cartel Office made procedure number three public on Friday. This is about the “Google News Showcase” offer, for which Google has concluded license agreements with a few dozen press publishers (including the FAZ publisher). The program is designed to highlight high-quality press content in the Google News app and on Google News. In response to a complaint from the collecting society Corint Media, the Cartel Office wants to check whether “the announced integration of the Google News Showcase offer in the general search threatens Google's self-preference” or “hinders competing offers from third parties”.
It should also be clarified whether the underlying contractual conditions “put the participating publishers at an unreasonable disadvantage” and make it more difficult for them to exercise the ancillary copyright law that has just been decided by the Bundestag and Bundesrat. And finally, it is of interest "how the conditions for access to the Google News Showcase offer are designed". The Bundeskartellamt, for example, uses the possibilities of Section 19a GWB, which allows it to examine the business practices of the digital companies in detail.
In the case of Google News Showcase, it must be ensured, says the head of the Cartel Office, Andreas Mundt, that “there is no discrimination between individual publishers”. Also, Google's strong position should not “lead to a displacement of competing offers from publishers or other news providers”. The content of showcase partners would not be preferred when displaying search results, countered Google spokesman Kay Oberbeck on Friday. They will "cooperate extensively with the German competition authority" and will be "happy to answer their questions".