EU to review behaviour of web giants in digital market overhaul

[BRUSSELS] The European Commission will conduct a comprehensive review this year of the role of web giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon to decide whether it should regulate them more tightly, it said on Wednesday.

The inquiry will focus on the transparency of search results and pricing policies, how online platforms use the data they acquire, their relationships with other businesses and how they promote their own services to the disadvantage of competitors.

The review, which had been expected, is part of a Digital Single Market Strategy unveiled by Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip on Wednesday. A wide-ranging policy paper, it lays out a variety of proposals to boost economic growth in Europe by removing national barriers within the EU for online services.

REUTERS