競爭對手或對谷歌開啓“索賠模式”

The European Commission has just delivered a fillip to the many rivals who would like to see the power of Google’s search engine curtailed. But even the power of Brussels cannot turn the clock back a decade on the consumer internet.

歐盟委員會(European Commission)給很多希望看到谷歌(Google)搜索引擎的實力受到制約的對手們注射了一劑強心針。但即使布魯塞爾也無法在消費者互聯網上讓時光倒流10年。

Foundem — the tiny UK shopping service that was the first to lodge a formal antitrust complaint against Google in Brussels, leading to this week’s record 2.4bn fine against the company — has mothballed its online service. Visitors are informed that, because of the way Google unfairly penalises the company in its search results, “few visitors reach Foundem to witness how it has become a pale shadow of its former self”.

英國小型購物服務平臺Foundem——首個在布魯塞爾針對谷歌提出正式反壟斷申訴的公司，最終導致谷歌最近被創紀錄地罰款24億歐元——暫停了其在線服務。訪問者收到提示稱，由於谷歌以不公平的手段使其在搜索結果中處於不利位置，“幾乎沒有訪客可以訪問Foundem，來目睹它是如何從之前的狀況變得如此黯然失色的”。

Other companies involved in online comparison shopping, the service that was the focus of the commission’s case, have seen much of their business wiped out. Richard Stables, chief executive of Kelkoo, said this week that his company had missed out on “10 years of development and growth”. The revenues Kelkoo generates from visitors referred by search engines have all but disappeared since 2010, falling from $12m to $200,000.

其他從事在線比價購物（該服務是這個歐盟委員會案件的關注焦點）的公司發現自己失去了很大一部分業務。Kelkoo首席執行官理查德?斯特布爾斯(Richard Stables)最近表示，他的公司錯過了“10年的發展和增長”。自2010年以來，Kelkoo通過由搜索引擎導入的訪問者獲得的收入幾乎消失，從1200萬美元下降至20萬美元。

Pursuing private lawsuits against Google, which had been put on hold pending the EU decision, may now be the best business model open to such companies. “The amount of damages that is going to come against Google is going to be much, much higher than what the EU Commission fined them today,” said Mr Stables.

如今，單獨針對谷歌提起訴訟——此前這類訴訟被擱置以等待歐盟裁決——可能是這類公司可用的最佳商業模式。“要求谷歌支付的損害賠償金金額將會遠遠高於歐盟委員會開出的罰單，”斯特布爾斯表示。

Google, not surprisingly, has had a different slant on events. Many comparative shopping sites have simply been rendered redundant by the evolution of online shopping and changing consumer expectations, said Kent Walker, the search company’s general counsel, in a blog post on Tuesday.

並不令人意外的是，谷歌對這些事件持有不同的觀點。谷歌總法律顧問肯特?沃克(Kent Walker)在博客文章中表示，很多比價購物網站只是因爲在線購物的演變和消費者預期的不斷改變而被淘汰。

Whichever version of events is closer to the truth, the action in Brussels, which came eight years after Foundem first brought its complaint, does not seem likely to make much difference to the way consumers carry out online research into products they are thinking of buying.

無論哪種版本更貼近真相，布魯塞爾的決定——在Foundem最初提交申訴的8年後作出裁決——似乎不太可能改變消費者對自己想購買的產品進行在線搜索的方式。

“It’s way too late to save competition in comparison shopping,” said Gary Reback, a US lawyer who has represented a number of US companies in the field. “The companies Google has run out of business aren’t coming back.”

“現在挽救比價購物行業的競爭爲時已晚，”代表該領域很多美國企業的美國律師加里?瑞貝克(Gary Reback)表示，“被谷歌擠掉業務的企業回不來了。”

However, the commission’s intervention could still ricochet through other corners of the search business. In announcing the expected fine on Tuesday, Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner, delivered what Google’s rivals had been hoping for: a broad statement of principle that could limit the search company’s power in other markets.

然而，歐盟委員會的干預仍可能在搜索業務的其他領域引起反響。在宣佈預期中的處罰時，歐盟競爭事務專員瑪格麗特?維斯特格(Margrethe Vestager)傳達了谷歌的競爭對手希望聽到的結果：一份關於原則的寬泛聲明，可能限制該搜索公司在其他市場的實力。

In future, she said, Google will be required to give rivals “equal treatment” — the same as its own services in its search results. That requirement could be used to limit Google’s ability to promote its own services in other specialised, or “vertical”, parts of the search market, including travel and local advertising.

維斯特格稱，未來谷歌將被要求爲競爭對手提供“平等對待”——在其搜索結果中給予與谷歌服務同樣的對待。這一要求可能被用來限制谷歌在搜索市場其他專業（即“垂直”）領域推廣自己的服務，包括旅遊和地方廣告。

“The commission seems to be signalling that this is the first domino to fall, and other verticals may be on the way,” said Luther Lowe, head of public policy at Yelp, the US local recommendations service. The EU’s ruling could also encourage other regulators around the world to take action, he said.

“歐盟委員會似乎在傳達一個信號，這是第一個倒下的多米諾骨牌，未來可能還有其他垂直領域的行動，”美國本地服務推薦網站Yelp的公共政策負責人盧瑟?洛韋(Luther Lowe)表示。他稱，歐盟的裁決可能也會鼓勵世界各地其他監管部門採取行動。

One question now is how the search company itself responds to this week’s EU action. It could try to stall, filing a legal challenge that would suspend any action pending a future legal appeal. That could put off a final conclusion for years.

現在的問題之一是谷歌如何迴應歐盟的行動。它可能會試着拖延，提出法律挑戰以擱置歐盟裁決，等待未來上訴結果。那可能把最終結論拖延到多年以後。

But that would put the company at loggerheads with the commission at a time when it badly needs to repair relations in Brussels, one rival points out. With the commission working on two other antitrust cases against the company, involving Android and Google’s advertising service, this would be a bad time to make enemies.

但一家競爭對手指出，那麼做可能會使該公司處於歐盟委員會的對立面，而目前谷歌急需修補與布魯塞爾的關係。在歐盟委員會正在處理另外兩起針對谷歌的反壟斷案（涉及安卓(Android)和谷歌的廣告服務）之際，現在不是樹敵的時候。

Striking a more conciliatory stance, for instance by bowing to and offering more concessions to the comparative shopping sites, would reduce this risk. But it could also open the door sooner for others to capitalise on this week’s ruling.

放軟身段會降低這種風險，比如服從裁決並對比價購物網站作出更多讓步。但這也可能意味着更早打開大門，讓其他對手鑽歐盟委員會裁決的空子。

Companies in other specialist search markets have already been lining up to push their cases. Complaints lodged with the commission during its eight-year review included local search, maps, travel and news aggregation. The commission put those to one side as it focused on comparative shopping, but the companies argue that they have already gone a long way towards making their case.

其他專業搜索市場的企業已經在排隊陳述自己的主張。在8年審查期間，歐盟委員會收到的申訴包括本地搜索、地圖、旅行和新聞集合。委員會將那些申訴擱到一邊，專注於購物比價服務，但這些企業認爲，他們已經拿出了不少支撐自己主張的證據。

“We have done our homework — our members have been providing evidence [to the commission] over the past five years,” said Christoph Klenner, head of the ETTSA, a European trade group for online travel companies.

代表在線旅行社的行業協會“歐洲技術和旅遊服務協會”(ETTSA)負責人克里斯托夫?克倫納(Christoph Klenner)表示：“我們做足了功課——我們的會員過去5年一直在（向委員會）提交證據。”

Yet the need to build a watertight legal case is still likely to make Brussels cautious about rushing to extend its ruling to new markets. Ms Vestager was at pains this week to point out the exhaustive investigation her department had carried out into comparison shopping, including gathering data on the equivalent of 1.7bn search queries, before reaching its conclusion.

然而，因爲需要提出構建一個在法律上滴水不漏的案子，布魯塞爾方面可能慎之又慎，不願將其裁決延伸到新的市場。維斯特格不厭其煩地強調，她的部門是在對比價購物服務展開了詳盡調查（包括採集17億條搜索查詢的數據）之後，才得出了結論。

According to internet search experts, meanwhile, markets such as local search advertising have already tipped in favour of Google, leaving rival internet giants such as Facebook and Amazon as the only likely challengers.

與此同時，互聯網搜索專家表示，本地搜索廣告等市場已經變得有利於谷歌，僅存的潛在挑戰者就是其他的那些互聯網巨擘了，比如Facebook和亞馬遜(Amazon)。

“The [local search] market has coalesced around Google — the question is whether Facebook steps up to be a full-on competitor,” said Greg Sterling, head of strategy at the Local Search Association. “There’s a sense that Google and Facebook have too much power and control, and everyone else is being squeezed.”

“（本地搜索）市場已經在圍着谷歌轉——問題在於，Facebook會不會向前邁出一步，全面投入競爭。”本地搜索協會(Local Search Association)的戰略主管格雷格?斯特林(Greg Sterling)說，“人們感覺谷歌和Facebook擁有太強的實力和掌控力，其他所有人都被擠到一邊了。”

One market where Google has yet to use its search dominance to build a clear lead involves online travel. But applying the findings in the comparative shopping case to the company’s hotel and flight search services will not be straightforward.

在線旅行是谷歌還未利用其搜索支配地位構建起清晰領導地位的市場之一。但是，要把比價購物案中的裁決結果應用於谷歌的酒店和航班搜索服務，並不是直截了當的。

Before deciding whether to take up new cases against Google, Brussels will look at “the characteristics of each market and the facts in a specific case”, said Ms Vestager. The way Google’s travel services operate shows just how different these can be.

維斯特格表示，在決定是否對谷歌提起新的案件之前，布魯塞爾方面將考察“每個市場的特點以及相關個案的事實”。谷歌旅行服務的經營方式，顯示出這其中存在巨大的差異。

Its hotel finder, for instance, relies on online travel agents such as Expedia and TripAdvisor competing to supply listings. Its flight search, on the other hand, depends on information supplied directly by airlines, shutting out the agents, while giving the airlines a new channel to sell directly to consumers.

例如，谷歌的酒店搜索器依賴於Expedia和TripAdvisor等在線旅行社，由其競爭提供可選酒店。谷歌的航班搜索則依賴於航空公司直接提供的信息，將中介排除在外，同時爲航空公司提供一個直接向消費者銷售機票的新渠道。

Differences like these mean there is no guarantee that the findings in the comparative shopping case will be applicable to other corners of search. But with this week’s ruling, Google’s rivals have at least been given an opening to make their case.

此類差異意味着，比價購物案中的發現未必適用其他搜索市場。但歐盟委員會的裁決至少給了谷歌的對手們一個機會，讓他們陳述自己的主張。