BRUSSELS, April 16 (Reuters) – The European Commission has proposed that Google allow third-party search engines to access its search data, including that of artificial intelligence chatbots with search functionalities, to comply with the Digital Markets Act, the commission said on Thursday.
Clare Kelly, Google’s senior competition counsel, said the tech giant would fight against the measures, which it said overreached and would jeopardise users’ privacy.
“Hundreds of millions of Europeans trust Google with their most sensitive searches – including private questions about their health, family, and finances – and the Commission’s proposal would force us to hand this data over to third parties, with dangerously ineffective privacy protections,” she said in a statement.
The EU’s proposed measures cover the scope, means and frequency of the search data Google must share, measures to ensure personal data is made anonymous, processes governing beneficiaries’ access to search data and parameters for setting prices for search data, the commission said.
“The aim of the measures is to allow third party online search engines, or ‘data beneficiaries’, to optimise their search services and contest Google Search’s position,” the commission said.
Interested parties have until May 1 to submit their views on the proposed measures, with a final decision to be made in July.
Google, the world’s most popular search engine, was charged in March 2025 with breaching the Digital Markets Act. It has made its own proposals to mollify rivals and EU regulators, but rivals have complained the measures were insufficient.
Google has racked up 9.71 billion euros ($11.43 billion) in fines since 2017 over various antitrust infringements in Europe. Fines for Digital Markets Act breaches can amount to up to 10% of a company’s global annual revenue.
($1 = 0.8493 euros)
(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Makini Brice, Ros Russell and Hugh Lawson)
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