Google's Record Fine of $2.8 Billion Was a 'Deterrent,' EU Says (bloomberg.com)

The European Union was aiming for a "deterrent effect" on Google and other technology giants when it ordered the Android-maker to pay 2.4 billion euros ($2.8 billion) for breaching antitrust law over how it displays shopping ads. From a report: Regulators weighed "the need to ensure that the fine has a sufficiently deterrent effect not only on Google and Alphabet but also on undertakings of a similar size and with similar resources," the European Commission said in a 215-page document laying out details of its seven-year investigation into the company. The "particularly large" revenue of Google's parent, Alphabet, also determined the size of the fine, the EU said. The penalty, levied in June, was more than double an earlier 1 billion-euro fine on Intel and came with a threat of more daily fines for Google if it didn't comply with an order to offer equal treatment to rival shopping-comparison services. Big numbers for big technology names have been a theme for EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who ordered Apple Inc. to pay back some 13 billion euros in taxes last year.

Comments

So they noticed...

[Actually, I do RTFA]

I'm glad someone (even if it's the EU, not the US) caught on. Fines that can be paid as a standard part of doing business are an expense, not a deterrent.

I honestly don't know if this fine is significant enough to actually defer Google.

Re:Show trials do sell...

[arth1]

Now, if Google were a German or French company, would the EU hound them as constantly? Quite doubtful.

Likely even more so. Aggregate data on individuals, for example, cannot be stored in databases in Europe without obtaining permission. Anyone would be entitled to have all their data removed from Google's databases, no matter where in the world they live. And worker's rights world-wide would be under regulation of where the company is headquartered. News it provides would have to hide the identity of any suspects not convicted. And much more, which is perfectly fine in the US, but not accepted in Europe.
Google gets the kids glove treatment precisely because it's not a European company.

Re:That's a nice tech company you have...

[TheRaven64]

You might want to take a look at the list of companies that have been the subject of antitrust and data protection fines in the EU. Spoiler: Most of them are neither tech companies, nor based in the US. The US tech companies are the ones that make the news because the fines are typically in proportion to the company size and most people will both have heard of these companies and be impressed by the big number of the fine.