Brussels fines Google £2.1BILLION for ‘breaking EU law’ over internet search monopoly
June 27, 2017 in News by RBN Staff
THE European Union (EU) has fined Google a record £2.1billion (€2.42 billion) for breaking EU laws on competition.
Source: Express | By ALIX CULBERTSON
Google now has 90 days to stop the practice or face a penalty of up to five per cent of the average daily turnover of the firm’s parent company, Alphabet.
Alphabet has denied they broke the law.
Any other services who have been affected by Google’s practices will be able to bring a civil case against the company, the EU said.
Despite Google’s mission statement being “Don’t be evil”, the European Commission said the company abused its dominance and actively pushed competitors out.
Margrethe Vestager revealed Google has been fined £2.1billion
“That’s a good thing. But Google’s strategy for its comparison shopping service wasn’t just about attracting customers by making its product better than those of its rivals.
“Instead, Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results, and demoting those of competitors.
“What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules. It denied other companies the chance to compete on the merits and to innovate.
“And most importantly, it denied European consumers a genuine choice of services and the full benefits of innovation.”
“Google is dominant in all 31 countries of the European Economic Area, even if Google disputes this.
“Google has abused its dominance and seriously harmed its competitors.”
The case was triggered by scores of complaints from rival websites
Google has said regulators ignored competition from online retailers Amazon and eBay Inc.
The investigation into the world’s most popular internet search engine has so far taken seven years.
Companies found guilty of infringing EU competition rules can be fined as much as 10 per cent of their global turnover.
In Google’s case, this could be about £7bn of its 2016 turnover but the fine not expected to reach this level.
Brussels fining Google is likely to anger President Donald Trump
The European Commission infuriated his predecessor Barack Obama last year by demanding Apple repay £11bn (€13bn) in back taxes in Ireland.
Eurocrats launched an initial investigation into Google in 2010
Joaquin Almunia, the former EU Commissioner for Competition, made three attempts to resolve the dispute.
But in each case intense pressure by national governments, rivals and privacy advocates scuppered the effort.