Google could be set to flag when its own products, such as YouTube or Google Shopping, appear in its results.
The search giant has been in negotiations with the European Commission (EC) for a year to resolve allegations that its results are biased towards its own services.
But in an apparent concession to avoid further antitrust investigations, the Guardian reports Google will clearly mark those results which are related to them.
The Guardian says the move is “unlikely” to appease companies who originally complained to the EC and the proposals will have to be market tested with complainants.
One of those complainants was British “vertical search” company Foundem, which wrote to Joaquin Almunia, the EC competition commissioner, as part of a coalition of 11 European companies, last month.
In it, they wrote: “Google’s search manipulation practices lay waste to entire classes of competitors in every sector where Google chooses to deploy them.”
HumanIPO reported earlier this week Microsoft were among the latest companies to make a complaint to the EC about Google, this time concerning alleged “predatory pricing” of its Android operating system for mobiles and tablets.
