The Commission’s ‘Next Big Thing’?: Why the Google Case is Not ‘Microsoft Reloaded’

Posted by Social Science Research Network

The Commission’s ‘Next Big Thing’?: Why the Google Case is Not ‘Microsoft Reloaded’ Torsten Koerber (Georg-August-Universität)

Abstract: On April 15, 2015 the European Commission sent Google its statement of objections (SO) in the Google Search case with regard to Google Shopping.

On the same day, it opened investigations against Google with regard to Android. The question of whether the contractual framework of Android licensing violates competition law has been covered in another SSRN article (it does not).

The following article is aimed at assessing the Commission’s competitive analysis and comparing the Google search case to other EU decisions, in particular to the European Commission’s decisions in the Microsoft cases. This is not an easy task because neither the SO nor Google’s response of August 27, 2015 have yet been published in full.

The following remarks, therefore, only reflect preliminary thoughts about the sparse information that has been revealed to the public in the Commission’s press releases and Google’s blogs. Based upon this information, the Commission does not seem to have a particularly strong case against Google.