European policy makers have hammered the search giant in recent years over privacy and antitrust issues. Google has reportedly doubled its lobbying efforts in the region, but instead of winning friends and influencing people, Google’s campaign only seems to be making things worse. Consider the events of the past two weeks:
European data regulators chastised Google over its privacy policies, following a summit of privacy officials. The group is still unhappy about Google’s move in 2012 to tie more user data together across its services. After its latest meeting, the group issued new guidelines for Google, including suggestions on how to make it easier for users to see what data is being collected and how to control it.
A more specific order came this week from a Hamburg privacy authority representing European colleagues. It told Google that its data collection efforts were violating German law and needed to be changed. Perhaps more troubling for Google, two weeks ago, officials derailed a settlement in an ongoing European Commission antitrust investigation when they asked the company to make more changes to the terms. That decision came after German and French publishers and rivals like Yelp complained the settlement was too lenient.