Google has an image problem in Europe, admits EMEA chief Matt Brittin
Google has admitted that it “doesn’t always get it right” and in particular had failed to adjust its “West Coast-driven, liberal values thing” to Europe.
The company recently restructured in a bid to resolve some of these issues, with Matt Brittin promoted to the newly created role of president for Europe in a bid to unify its trans-Atlantic operations.
In his first interview since the European Commission filed anti-trust charges against the company in April – which refer to Google’s 90 per cent domination of the European search market – Brittin told Poitico that the technology giant was open to reaching a settlement.
It currently faces a $6.6bn fine if accusation hold that it abused its dominance by displaying its own shopping comparison service more prominently in search results than those of rivals.
“We want to be pragmatic and get to a point where we can continue to invest in building great products for everyone,” he said.
“We don’t always get it right. As far as Europe is concerned, we get it. We understand that people here are not the same in their attitudes to everything as people in America.”
He went on to say Google’s “West Coast-driven, liberal-values thing” had not translated in Europe, and acknowledged that it had not worked well enough with policymakers.
However, he denied that it had abused its position.
“There is no evidence that consumers have been harmed here, and actually no evidence that complainants have been harmed,” he said.
Google has until June 23 to respond to the allegations.