US Google ruling has no impact on EU probe: Brussels

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The decision by US authorities to close down an 18-month anti-trust investigation into Internet giant Google has no bearing on what the European Union (EU) will do with its own probe, the European Commission said on Friday.

The United States (US) Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said on Thursday it lacked a legal basis to bring a case against Google for allegedly abusing its dominance in Internet searches, but that it had won commitments from the company to end its "most troubling" practices.

The European Commission has "taken note of the FTC decision", a spokesman said, adding that Brussels did not believe "this has any direct implication (for) our investigation". The spokesman said discussions with Google were ongoing.

Last month, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Brussels would seek an agreement with Google after the two sides had made progress in resolving EU anti-trust concerns in talks since July.