What Google Europe Will Look Like After A Legal Agreement Forces It To Carry Its Rivals' Ads

Google has reached a legal settlement
with European antitrust regulators
that will change the way it displays
shopping ads. The Europeans believe
the deal will lessen Google's
dominance of online advertising and
improve competition.
In the future, Google in Europe will
display three non-Google
"alternative" ads alongside its own
Google Shopping results, according to
Re/code.

Note that Google is being forced to
list rival, non-Google "alternatives"
on its own ad space.
Europe is a major market for Google,
obviously. If U.S. regulators were to
adopt a similar approach — highly
unlikely — it could have a material
effect on Google's revenues. Analysts
believe the shopping ads, technically
called "product listing ads," are a
significant driver of increased
revenues at Google . The format was
introduced in late 2011/early 2012.