The antitrust chief of Italy has asked Google to begin a dialogue with Italian publishers to discuss accusations that the search engine giant pressured newspapers into providing stories for its news Web site, with the alternative being heavy fines, Reuters reported Friday.

The country's competition regulator last month began an investigation into a claim by the Italian Federation of Newspaper Editors that Google threatened to exclude newspapers from the search engine if they did not provide content for the News Italia Web site.
"I see that in the United States and in other countries, Google has begun talks with publishers, considering the option of recognition for the use of news," the Antitrust agency's chief Antonio Catricala told a conference. "I hope that this road is taken in Italy as well to close this without too much of a fuss because this is a procedure that foresees heavy sanctions."