One of the topics discussed was Google's global
footprint, and whether it was a "near-monopoly" that made it hard for strong European alternatives like Exalead to succeed. Google's representative argued that the company couldn't just be considered
a U.S. entity anymore -- after all, a majority of its paid and organic traffic now comes from outside the U.S., and the company has a number of international hubs.
The Pandia Search wrote a position paper to help foster the dialogue. "The traditional argument of supporting R&D and innovation in order to develop European alternatives to a U.S. hegemony makes less sense in a world where more and more of the European companies are acquired by Non-European firms," the team said. "Instead of focusing on the development of companies owned and controlled by Europeans, the objective should be to develop Europe-based search engine technology clusters that generate innovation in general."