Bing search data is under scrutiny, Microsoft faces antitrust investigation in France
Microsoft is under investigation by French antitrust authorities, as regulators suspect that the American tech giant may have intentionally lowered the quality of search results when providing Bing search technology to smaller search engines, in order to affect their competitiveness. This investigation could lead to formal charges and hefty fines for Microsoft. Following the news, Microsoft's stock price gains narrowed. Earlier reports indicated that the European Union has developed a series of countermeasures in response to the threat of tariffs from Trump, such as sanctions against American Silicon Valley tech giants
Microsoft is currently facing an investigation by French antitrust authorities.
On Monday, February 10, Eastern Time, sources revealed that French regulators are assessing whether Microsoft is abusing its market dominance in the search engine alliance market and have inquired with several competitors about their cooperation with Microsoft.
Regulators hope to determine whether Microsoft is providing poor search results to small search engines that rely on Bing search data, thereby affecting their business development. This investigation could lead to formal charges and hefty fines against Microsoft.
In response to the investigation, Microsoft stated that the company is actively cooperating with the French antitrust authorities.
Following the announcement, Microsoft's stock price gains narrowed, having previously risen nearly 1.4%.
Although Microsoft's Bing is far from dominating the general search engine market like Google, it is a key player in the search engine alliance market. Many small search engines, such as DuckDuckGo, Qwant, and Ecosia, rely on Bing for search results. Therefore, if Microsoft abuses its technological advantage in this market, it could create unfair competition for these small businesses.
This is not the first time France has taken a tough stance against tech giants. In recent years, French regulators have intensified their antitrust enforcement in the tech sector. For instance, last year, the agency fined Google €250 million (approximately $258 million) and expressed caution regarding large tech companies entering the artificial intelligence field.
Additionally, the agency has launched an investigation into NVIDIA regarding its monopolistic behavior in the graphics processing unit (GPU) market and warned Apple about potential unfair competition in iPhone app distribution.
However, compared to other companies, Microsoft has largely avoided the most severe antitrust scrutiny in Europe in recent years. Nonetheless, the EU is currently investigating whether Microsoft is abusing its advantage in the market for the video conferencing software Teams, particularly regarding its bundling of Teams with Office 365 and Microsoft 365, which may constitute market distortion.
Notably, a previous article from Wall Street Insight mentioned that as Trump hinted at implementing "reciprocal tariffs," a response plan that the EU had secretly prepared for a year gradually came to light. According to foreign media citing three anonymous EU diplomats, Brussels' "Trump Task Force" began formulating a series of contingency plans as early as 2024, attempting to balance economic interests while addressing potential escalating trade conflicts.
This strategy has been vividly described as "carrots and sticks"—on one hand, the EU is considering increasing purchases of American natural gas and lowering auto tariffs to demonstrate goodwill; on the other hand, it has prepared a series of precise countermeasures, such as trade strikes targeting Republican strongholds, **and may even impose sanctions on Silicon Valley tech giants **