European regulator details Google concessions

The European Commission's top antitrust official says Google would allow competitors to display their own logos on its search display results page as part of concessions it has offered to avoid a showdown with regulators.

Joachim Almunia told the European Parliament on Tuesday that Google's concessions will be tested to see how they would work in the market. Only then will the Commission decide whether to accept them.

He repeated he prefers a negotiated settlement, rather than the long battle fought with Microsoft in the 2000s, which ended in billions of euros of fines.

Almunia said consumers deserve having choice in online search and advertising "now, and not after many years of litigation."

The Commission began investigating whether Google's dominant position in search is stifling competition in 2010.