Google, Facebook, TikTok and other tech giants face in Europe one of the most far-reaching efforts to clean up what people encounter online.Platforms are banned from ranking their own products or services higher than their rivals’ in search results. So, Amazon isn’t allowed to make its own-brand products easier to find than those from third-party merchants.
Essential software or apps such as web browsers can’t be installed by default along with the operating system, in the way Google’s Chrome comes bundled with Android phones. Consumers will instead be given a choice screen for search engines and browsers to use on their devices. Google noted that it’s already doing this and said it would remind European users of their choices.
Microsoft said it accepted being named as a gatekeeper and welcomed the commission’s decision to consider its request to exempt some of its services, including its Bing search engine and Edge browser.