Google Fined $2.7BN For EU Antitrust Violations Over Shopping Searches

The European Commission has fined Google a record-breaking €2.42 billion (~$2.73BN) for antitrust violations pertaining to its Google’s Shopping search comparison service — in what is widely considered the most significant antitrust ruling in Europe since the 2004 Microsoft decision. For some context on the size of the fine, Google’s full year revenue for 2016 was almost $90BN. The Commission said the fine has been calculated on the basis of the value of Google’s revenue from its comparison shopping service in the 13 EEA (European Economic Area) countries concerned. As a result, the EC said it found Google’s comparison shopping service is much more visible to consumers in Google’s search results, while rival comparison shopping services are much less visible. Speaking during a press conference about the ruling, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: “Google has given its own comparison shopping service an illegal advantage by abusing its dominance in general Internet search. It has promoted its own service, and demoted rival services. It has harmed competition and consumers. That’s illegal under EU antitrust rules.” Read more at Tech Crunch.