French Business Competition Authority Rejects Qwant's Lawsuit Against Microsoft

French business competition authorities on Thursday 27 November rejected a lawsuit filed by local search engine Qwant against Microsoft. Qwant accused the US tech giant of abusing the dominant position.

Autorite de la Concurrence, as the agency that handles business competition in France, stated that Qwant was unable to present strong enough evidence to support its claims. The agency also rejected Qwant's request to implement temporary action against Microsoft.

Qwant, which has been dependent on Microsoft's Bing platform to provide search and news results, last month predicted its lawsuit would be rejected. The company said it was ready to take the case to court or submit it to other authorities.

Microsoft welcomed the decision. "We agree with the decision and remain committed to providing high-quality search services and encouraging innovation for consumers and partners in France and throughout Europe," a Microsoft spokesperson said.

In its lawsuit, Qwant accused Microsoft of setting restrictions on exclusivity in search results and search ads, which Qwant said hampered the development of their own search engine and artificial intelligence. In addition, Qwant assessed Microsoft prioritizing itself in the distribution of search ads.

Microsoft is a major player in the search engine syndicate sector in Europe, providing search results for a number of smaller rivals such as Ecosia, DuckDuckGo, and airshed.

Qwant has not yet responded to a request for comment regarding the decision