The EU also ordered Google to treat rival comparison-shopping services equally in its search results. Google has 90 days to end the conduct and explain how it will implement the decision, or face additional penalties of up to 5% of average daily global revenue, the EU said.
The big fine and broad remedy order mark a major escalation in Brussels’ fight over whether the Mountain View, Calif., company has used its dominance in markets stretching from online ads to mobile-phone software as a cudgel to promote its own services at the expense of competitors.
Tuesday’s decision is the first of three separate advanced investigations by the commission into Google’s practices. The EU is continuing to probe Google over its Android mobile operating system and its Adsense advertising service.
The first decision now opens a new chapter in the drama that will likely play out in EU courts for years to come. At the heart of that litigation will be whether the EU can make stick its the novel case that a dominant firm cannot favor its own services above those of competitors–something that could end up affecting other big tech firms as well.
The EU’s move highlights divergence with U.S. regulators in their approach to Google. The Federal Trade Commission closed its own probe into Google’s search practices in 2013 after the company agreed to voluntary changes, though some firms have been lobbying U.S. regulators to pick the case back up.
Tuesday’s decision will also likely renew complaints from U.S. firms that they are being unfairly targeted in the EU, something European officials strenuously deny. U.S. companies are under scrutiny in Europe for their tax affairs, as well as for their privacy practices, leading to decisions against firms like Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. Google, for instance, this week faces a hearing in France over that country’s order to apply the EU’s “right to be forgotten” from search engines globally–not just for searches in the EU.
Article Appeared @http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/06/27/eu-hits-google-with-record-2-7b-antitrust-fine.html