On Tuesday 27 January, the European Commission opened two specification proceedings against Google under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), to help it comply with its interoperability and online search data obligations.
The specification proceedings are a means for the Commission to guide ‘gatekeepers’, designated by the Digital Markets Act, in implementing certain obligations in their services.
As far as Google is concerned, the first proceeding relates to integrated artificial intelligence services, in particular Gemini, and their interoperability. The Commission intends to specify how the tech giant should grant third-party AI service providers equally effective access to the same features as those available to its own services. The aim is to ensure that third-party providers have the same opportunities for innovation and competition.
The second proceeding concerns the obligation to open up data relating to searches carried out on Google Search to providers of other online search engines.
Google must share anonymised data on rankings, queries, clicks and views recorded by Google Search to ensure that its monopoly does not give it an anti-competitive position. In this way, the Commission wants to ensure that alternative search engine providers can optimise their services.
The Commission has six months to complete the proceedings. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)