Google has been fined a record breaking €2.4 billion by the European Union for breaching EU’s antitrust rules. In a press release, the European Commission said they fined Google for abusing their dominant position as a search engine and systematically favoring its own services.
The decision is the largest antitrust judgment handed out by the executive body of EU after a seven year long investigation. This fine beats the €1 billion penalty given to Intel in 2009 for anti competitive practices. The press release also states the company must now end this conduct within 90 days or it could be forced to make payments of 5% of Alphabet, its parent company’s, average daily worldwide earnings. The penalty would amount to around $14 million per day.
According to the judgment, Google demoted rival comparison shopping services in its search results and gave prominence to its own shopping services. As a result of this anti competitive behavior, Google’s shopping services is much more visible to consumers while the rivals services appear further down.
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement that while Google has come up with many innovative products and services, their strategy for comparison shopping service was an abuse of their dominance. A spokesperson for the firm said in response to the ruling, they respectfully disagree with the conclusion and will review the commission’s decisions in an appeal.
The decision made by the European Union in particular orders Google to comply with the simple principle of giving equal treatment to rival comparison shopping services and its own service. It is now Google’s sole responsibility to ensure compliance and explain how it tends to do so by keeping the Commission’s informed of its actions.
Zdrkzasl
May 25, 2025 at 3:50 am
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