§5.3 Indirect remuneration

91. Indirect remuneration is described as ‘remuneration in the form of the acceptance by a business user of additional obligations of any kind which may have this [improved ranking] as its practical effect’ (18). Providers thus should consider what opportunities are offered to users that could have the practical effect of improving ranking in return, and how any such opportunities operate. 92. The use of ancillary services such as payment, escrow, fulfilment, etc. by users could have an impact on the ranking of their goods or services, for a variety of reasons. The description required pursuant to Article 5 should include these possible uses of ancillary services where they involve indirect remuneration within the meaning of Article 5(3) and constitute ‘main parameters’. In particular, where any or all of these effects on ranking result from the mere participation of the business user in a particular ancillary service - in isolation of any indirect effect the ancillary service may have on the user’s performance measured by other parameters - the additional obligations of Article 5(3) may apply. Other examples of possible types of indirect remuneration are set out in Annex B. HOW SHOULD MAIN PARAMETERS BE DESCRIBED 93. Article 5(5) requires the descriptions of the ‘main parameters’ referred to in Article 5(1), (2) and (3) to be, ‘sufficient to enable the business users of corporate website users to obtain an adequate understanding of whether, and if so, how and to what extent, the ranking mechanism takes account of the following: a. the characteristics of the goods and services offered to consumers through the online intermediation services or the online search engine; b. the relevance of those characteristics for those consumers; c. as regards online search engines, the design characteristics of the website used by corporate website users’ (19). 94. As a general remark, it is important to note that by obtaining an adequate understanding of how ranking functions, users will be able to compete on a more level playing field when deciding their sales strategies. These strategies potentially encompass both good and service optimisation as well as investment in online visibility, including search engine optimisation and paid ranking. Users should reasonably be able to decide whether or not to invest more in particular elements of their goods and services and to make a better determination of whether and if so, how to invest in ‘ranking strategies’.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07