In a positive development for Google, the European Commission has said on Thursday that it reached an understanding with the American internet giant that could lead to settlement in an antitrust investigation against the company.

The antitrust suit alleges that Google misused its dominating position in the Internet search and advertising markets. Europe's competition commissioner, Joaquin Almunia had asked the company to offer concessions on four areas if it wanted to avoid antitrust litigation.

The commission considers Google's proposals as a good basis for further talks and has now reached a good level of understanding," said a commission spokesman, Antoine Colombani. Representatives of Google and those from the commission will now conduct more technical meetings to reach a settlement.

Google spokesman in Brussels, Al Verney only sad that the company will continue to cooperate with the European Commission and did not say what concessions were offered by the company. The inquiry that went on for about two years found that the company might have given its own products an edge over those of others while agreeing that it offered neutral results on the search engine.