Google's search result was scrutinized by EU antitrust regulators. A European Commission questionnaire asked Google's rivals if lower rankings had any effect with regard to the number of visitors to their sites.
The questionnaire contained six questions. These questions sought to provide evidence of a possible link between lower Google rankings and lower site traffic. The questionnaire focused on activity for the last two years and a half.
"Our proposal to the European Commission clearly addresses their four areas of concern. We continue to work with the commission to settle this case," Google spokesman Al Verney said. If the company does not resolve the EU investigation, it could be fined up to US$5 billion.
Google's share in the European search market was 80%. Meanwhile, Europeans constituted only 21.5% of the total volume of internet users worldwide, according to Internet World Stats. Europe came second after Asia which had 44.8% share of internet users worldwide.
Being a top search engine has its perks, of course. In the latest quarter, consolidated revenues were US$13.11 billion. This represented 93% of the reported revenues for Q2 2013 and included earnings from advertising, among others. Meanwhile, its revenue from the United Kingdom amounted to US$1.32 billion, representative of 10% of the company's revenue for Q2 2013.
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