Eric Schmidt to reportedly meet with top EU regulator over Google antitrust fears

It looks like Google will be voluntarily changing its search practices in order to quell concerns from the Federal Trade Commission, and now the company will be meeting with European Union regulators to discuss similar fears. According to The New York Times, Eric Schmidt is expected to meet with Joaquín Almunia, the competition commissioner for the EU, as early as this week. At issue are Google’s search practices: like their US counterparts, EU regulators are concerned that Google may be using its dominance in search to gain an unfair advantage in other online domains such as shopping or mapping.

Google has been under intense scrutiny over the past few years for its practices, but has been settling many of the concerns as of late. The company recently paid $22.5 million to settle a series of privacy charges from the FTC, and it’s also been reported that it will be able to reach an agreement with the FTC in connection with a patent antitrust investigation. Of course, talks between the two parties don’t mean a deal is guaranteed, but the EU search investigation is no doubt a headache Google would like to rid itself of altogether.