French antitrust watchdog dismisses complaint filed against Microsoft

The French antitrust watchdog on Thursday dismissed a complaint filed against Microsoft by local search engine Qwant which accused the U.S. company of abusing its dominant position.

The Autorite de la Concurrence, as the watchdog is known, said Qwant failed to bring elements sufficiently convincing to sustain its claims and also declined to enforce the interim action against Microsoft requested by Qwant.

Qwant, which has historically relied on Microsoft’s Bing platform to deliver search and news results, last month said that it expected its complaint to be dismissed and that it would challenge it in court or take it to other authorities.

The U.S. tech company welcomed the ruling. “We agree with the decision and remain committed to providing high-quality search services and fostering innovation for consumers and partners in France and across Europe,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

Qwant had alleged Microsoft imposed exclusivity restrictions on Qwant in search results and search advertising, hampering the latter’s ability to develop its own search engine and its own artificial intelligence. The French company also alleged Microsoft favoured itself in allocating search advertising.

Microsoft is a major player in the search-engine syndication sector, where it provides search results to smaller European rivals besides Qwant, such as Ecosia, DuckDuckGo and Lilo.

Qwant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.