French Antitrust Authority Investigating Microsoft Over Bing Access

France’s antitrust authority has launched an investigation into Microsoft, scrutinizing allegations that the tech giant is diminishing the quality of search results for smaller competitors who pay to use Bing’s technology in their own search engines. According to a Microsoft spokesperson, the company is fully cooperating with the investigation led by the Autorité de la concurrence, France’s competition regulator.

While Microsoft does not hold a dominant share of the general search engine market, it is a key player in the search-engine syndication sector. The investigation, which could lead to formal charges and a potential fine, comes after concerns were raised about Microsoft’s practices potentially harming competition and impacting the user experience of smaller search engine providers.

The French competition authority has yet to comment on the specifics of the investigation.