A Google sign appears at the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.(Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP)

SHARE 1 CONNECT EMAILMORE
SAN FRANCISCO -- Google's latest offer to end an antitrust investigation in Europe was rejected by authorities in the region, leaving a question mark over how the world's largest Internet search provider operates in the region.
Google proposed changes in the way it serves up search results in October to settle an antitrust case by the European Commission, the European Union body that regulates competition in the region.
On Friday, European Union competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Spanish radio that the company's offer was "not acceptable" because it does not address "concerns regarding competition."
Google's search engine is more dominant in Europe than in the U.S. Critics complain that the company's algorithms produce search results that favor other Google services over those offered by rival Internet companies.
European antitrust authorities have been investigating such issues for about three years and Google faces fines in the billions of dollars, depending on how the case is resolved.
"We've made significant changes to address the EC's concerns, greatly increasing the visibility of rival services and addressing other specific issues," a Google spokeswoman said. She declined to comment further.