Google was fined today with the sum of 2.4 billion euros by the European Union, the authorities applying the largest fine of this kind for a company. The fine that the EU wants to impose against those from Google is based on the fact that the Americans promoted their own sales offers for products at the expense of other online stores indexed in Google Search.
The EU declared that Google has 90 days to stop its illegal practices in Europe and to give equal treatment to all competing services. The EU gave Google a 60-day deadline to provide an answer to the accusations and a fine of 2.4 billion dollars, and in case of ignoring the authorities, it risks being fined with the equivalent of 5% of daily receipts .
The EU is upset that Google's services for comparing the prices of products sold by online stores had priority in the search results made by users. Through these practices, the EU says that Google would have taken away from customers the right to choose between competing services, but would also have affected the ability of these services to be serious competition for the company.
Google – RECORD fine of 2.4 billion euros, applied by the EU
The fine applied by the EU against the Google company comes after 7 years of complaints from the competitors of Mountain View, but also after the investigations of the European authorities. Among the companies that filed complaints against those from Google is Microsoft, so we are talking here about an expansion in Europe of the battles that the two companies are already fighting in the USA.
Apart from this investigation against those from Google, the EU has two others in full swing, but no one knows when they will end. There is a possibility that the EU may impose fines against Google there as well, but regardless of the situation, no one knows to what extent these fines will ever be paid by the American company.
"Google's strategy for its comparison-shopping service wasn't just about attracting customers by making its product better than those of its rivals. It denied other companies the chance to compete on the merits and to innovate. And most importantly, it denied European consumers a genuine choice of services."
Although the EU has the right to impose fines against the Google company, the Americans have the right to challenge these fines in court, so the process itself will be a long one. From my point of view, it is unlikely that Google will ever pay any fine to the European Union, because in court it could prove its innocence in front of the accusations.
