In recent times, Google Inc. has come under a lot of pressure by the European Union and European courts, both of which have been disrupting the “freedom to access the internet” policy that Google has been building up on ever since its inception in 1998. However, now the company seems to be on track to resolve its issues in the European continent, merging up all its divisions in Europe into one single entity under one single executive: Matt Brittin.
The merger is officially between two units of Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) operating in Europe, one which was responsible for the business of Northern and Central parts of Europe, and the other which was responsible for Southern and Eastern parts of Europe and also Africa and the Middle East. The merger authorized by Google will now bring all the divisions of Google’s business in these regions under one leadership of Brittin, and all current executives heading these different parts will now report to Brittin for business goals and guidance.
Google is currently facing many issues in the European continent at the moment as well, which experts opine have contributed immensely to Google’s decision to centralize its business in the region. One such issue has been with competitors in Europe, who sued Google in court over claims that the company was involved in monopolistic practices, weeding out competition out of the market by using unfair means. Another issue the company is facing at the moment is that of tax payments. It was alleged by European officials that Google Inc. had been evading tax payments in the region, and the case is still under investigation by authorities.
The greatest setback Google faced was last year, when the company was ordered by a European court to honor the requests of all those users of the service that wished to be deleted off of the entire Google Search Engine list under the ‘right to be forgotten’ clause that Google offers its users in its terms of service and privacy policy.
A more centralized form of system such as one that Google Inc. is now on its way to incorporate in the region can surely minimize, if not entirely solve, such administrative issues that the company is facing in Europe. Most of Google’s issues are with its legal side, as Google seems to be dealing with a major legal situation in the region quite often. Now, with a single head of the region, all regulations and complaints of irregularities would be able to come to Google in a single stream.
According to experts, the timing is also right for Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) to undergo such a change for its administrative framework in Europe. European Union and governments operating in Europe would soon be finalizing a new policy for data-privacy in the region which would only add to the already increasing list of issues with data Google is currently facing. A centralized system of governance in Google’s operative environment in Europe would be the best face forward for the company if it hopes to maintain its data services with minimum restrictions posed by the European Union.
