Google faces EU probe over treatment of news publishers

Google is facing a potential new competition investigation in Europe over how it ranks news outlets in its search results, according to a report by the Financial Times, citing unnamed officials.

The European Commission is set to investigate claims that Google demoted publishers carrying paid promotional content, such as sponsored articles, under the Digital Markets Act.

The DMA gives EU regulators broad powers over platforms designated as gatekeepers, requiring them to treat rivals and partners fairly.

Google has previously been subject to dozens of antitrust investigations worldwide, focusing on whether it abused its dominance in search, ad, and mobile ecosystems.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the reported probe.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

The sponsored content ranking probe could trigger Digital Markets Act (DMA) penalties of up to 10% of Alphabet’s (Google’s parent company) global revenue

The European Commission (the EU’s executive arm) plans a DMA probe into claims that Google lowered rankings for news outlets that host third-party promotional pieces such as sponsored articles 1.
Under the DMA, violators can face fines up to 10% of global turnover and may be ordered to change algorithms or business practices 2.
Publishers say sponsored articles fund their operations 2. They warn demotions would advantage outlets without such content and harm competition in digital ads 2. If launched, the case would add to EU scrutiny of Google, including search ranking and app store conduct 1.

Search engine optimization (SEO) consultancies and compliance vendors can create new services around sponsored content guidelines

Google policy says ads or paid promotional material cannot outweigh editorial content, with clear sponsorship labels for readers 3.
A site reputation abuse policy took effect in May 2024 and raised new compliance needs for publishers 3. It covers low-quality or third-party content on reputable sites that could manipulate search rankings 3.
SEO consultancies can run audits that shape sponsored pieces to meet Google’s disclosure rules while keeping search visibility.
Software vendors that serve publishers could build automated schema markup tools (structured data that labels page elements so search engines can interpret them) to flag sponsored content. That would help publishers avoid ranking penalties and preserve revenue from promotional articles.