Qwant Demands Action Against Microsoft for Degrading Search Quality

French search engine Qvent has appealed to the French competition regulator to take interim action against US tech giant Microsoft. Qvent alleges that Microsoft is degrading the quality of the French search engine’s search results through its Bing platform. And the case relates to violations of antitrust rules and reflects the growing pressure on the dominance of big tech companies in Europe.

Qvent’s allegation

Qvent has filed a complaint with the French competition regulator claiming that Microsoft is deliberately degrading their search engine results. And Qvent has historically relied on Microsoft’s Bing platform which they use to generate their search results. Qvent argues that Microsoft is abusing this reliance thereby affecting the quality of Qvent’s search results and causing them an unfair disadvantage in the market. And demand for interim action Qvent is requesting the regulator to take interim action against Microsoft while its complaint is investigated. Interim action means the regulator can order Microsoft to stop or change certain activities even before a full investigation into the matter is conducted. Competition regulators usually take interim action only when they find strong evidence that a company is abusing its market power and causing serious and immediate harm to the complainant.

Microsoft’s response

Microsoft has called the complaint baseless and said it is fully cooperating with the French regulator’s investigation. and Regulator’s investigation
The French regulator has also sought responses from other search engines on the matter. The regulator is expected to decide by September whether to take interim action and whether to launch a formal investigation against Microsoft. The regulator is investigating whether Microsoft abused its market power in the area of search engine syndication and What is search engine syndication?

Smaller European search engines often rely on back-end technology from their larger rivals such as Microsoft’s Bing or Google to provide search and news results. This means they use the data and algorithms of the big players rather than their own infrastructure. Microsoft is a big player in the search engine syndication sector. Smaller rivals such as Qvant fear that Microsoft may shut down this service or reduce its quality to their detriment. And antitrust rules and fines Companies violating French antitrust rules can face fines of up to 10% of their global annual turnover. This can be a significant amount and can have a serious financial consequence for big tech companies.

Growing scrutiny on big tech companies in the EU

The case is part of growing regulatory scrutiny on big tech companies in Europe, especially US giants. EU countries are becoming increasingly proactive to ensure competition in digital markets and prevent potential abuse of their power by big tech companies. Companies such as Google and Apple have also been heavily fined for antitrust violations in the EU before. And this case is important for many reasons and Protection of small players It shows how small local players are struggling to survive in a competitive environment against large global giants. And Abuse of market power.

It highlights how a dominant player (Microsoft) can harm smaller competitors by using its market power. And Competition in the digital market It emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair competition in digital markets where some companies have become so dominant that they can create barriers for smaller players. And Role of European regulator: It shows how seriously European regulators are taking their actions to ensure fair play in the market.

History and Mission of Qvent

Qvent is a French search engine that was launched in 2013. Its main mission is to provide privacy-focused and neutral search results. Qvent has tried to differentiate itself from larger search engines like Google that collect user data and display targeted ads. Qvent prioritizes user privacy and does not track personal data. They claim that they provide unbiased and non-filtered search results. Qvent has gained some popularity due to the growing concern for privacy in the European Union. But it is still a very small player compared to giants like Google. And the role of Microsoft Bing. Most smaller search engines including Qvent do not build their own comprehensive search index database of all the webpages on the Internet.