Google Could Face a $9 Billion EU Fine For Rigging Search Results In Its Favor (independent.co.uk)

schwit1 quotes a report from The Independent: EU antitrust regulators aim to slap a hefty fine on Alphabet unit Google over its shopping service before the summer break in August, two people familiar with the matter said, setting the stage for two other cases involving the U.S. company. The European Commission's decision will come after a seven-year investigation into the world's most popular internet search engine was triggered by scores of complaints from both U.S. and European rivals. Fines for companies found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules can reach 10 percent of their global turnover, which in Google's case could be about $9 billion of its 2016 turnover. Apart from the fine, the Commission will tell Google to stop its alleged anti-competitive practices but it is not clear what measures it will order the company to adopt to ensure that rivals get equal treatment in internet shopping results. The company has also been charged with using its Android mobile operating system to squeeze out rivals and with blocking competitors in online search advertising related to its "AdSense for Search" platform. The platform allows Google to act as an intermediary for websites such as online retailers, telecoms operators or newspapers. The Commission has warned of massive fines in both cases.

Comments

"Rigging"?

[Frosty Piss]

Apart from the fine, the Commission will tell Google to stop its alleged anti-competitive practices but it is not clear what measures it will order the company to adopt to ensure that rivals get equal treatment in internet shopping results.

It's Google's product , it's not some public resource that Google manages for the good of society. Why shouldn't Google leverage their own product which exists solely to generate profit for Google? There is always Bing.

Re:"Rigging"?

[Frosty Piss]

Why shouldn't Microsoft be allowed to leverage their product and solely allow Edge on Windows, and redirect all Google searches to Bing instead?

There is a difference between an operating system and a web site.

And, Edge is the default browser for IE and the only one that ships with Windows. Of course people are free to use Chrome of Firefox or several others, and people are free to use Bing instead of Goole.

Re:"Rigging"?

[Anonymous Coward]

There is a difference between an operating system and a web site.

In this context, no there isn't.

Re:"Rigging"?

[rahvin112]

In a normal circumstance I agree completely. I think the EU is off base here because there is no barrier of entry to search, ad's or commercial sales of any kind. There are more than a half a dozen search engines, dozens of ad companies and hundreds of competing stores.

Nothing at all stops consumers from switching. For that reason alone the EU is off base with any kind of fine. I have no doubt that this fine is being leveled for tax reasons and has nothing at all to do with competition.

Re:"Rigging"?

[Cyberax]

It doesn't matter if there are competitors - if you HAVE a monopoly then you're regulated. It's that simple.

Re:"Rigging"?

[JaredOfEuropa]

It's not about Google's dominance in any of these areas; the EU doesn't care per se if Google is the most popular search engine or mobile OS. It's about Google using their dominance in one area to gain an advantage in another that the Commission takes issue with.

A friend of mine used to run a fairly popular web shop. He told me that the difference between being the top ranked result on Google and being down to 3rd of 4th made an immediate and sizable impact on his revenue. That's all well and good if you only have regular competitors... but what if you are selling what Alphabet is also selling, and they put their own shop at the top and bump you down to page 2? Sure, you were free to start your own business, take out some more ads, and anyone is free to switch to Bing, but if you compete with Google and they bump you off the search results, you can be sure your sales are going to take a massive hit as no one is going to find you.

In other words: the more dominant your service is in the market, the more neutral the Commission expects you to be. Especially in places like search engines and ad rotation where the customer expects neutrality.