AMSTERDAM (AP) Europe's top competition official says his agency is close to a decision in its three-year investigation into whether Google Inc. has abused its dominant position in Internet searches to unfairly thwart competition.
Joaquin Almunia, the European Commission's competition commissioner, said Wednesday that investigations by his agency andthe U.S. Federal Trade Commission will not reach identical conclusions, in part because Google has larger market share in Europe.
The FTC settled its case with Google in January.
Almunia said concessions offered by Google have not been sufficient and he has asked the company to "improve its offer" or face possible sanctions.
"We will not have to wait a long time to see which of the routes will be chosen," Almunia said at a symposium at Georgetown University in Washington DC.
