Google Fined
Record 2.4 Billion Euros in EU Antitrust Case
by Breitbart London 27 Jun 2017
BRUSSELS (AP) —
After a seven-year legal battle, European authorities came down hard on Google on Tuesday for taking advantage of its
dominance in online searches to direct customers to its own businesses, fining
the tech giant a record 2.42 billion euros ($2.72 billion) and raising the
prospect of more.
A years-long analysis of Google’s online search results
showed that the company lists links to its own online shopping services above
those of rivals, European regulators said. On average, Google lists search
results to its biggest rivals in online shopping only on page 4 — and smaller
rivals even lower. That’s a huge advantage for Google when 90 percent of
use-clicks are on page one.
The European Union’s competition
watchdog slapped a record 2.42 billion euro (2.72 billion US dollars) fine on
internet giant Google on Tuesday for breaching antitrust rules with its online
shopping service. (June 27)
The ruling that Google is taking advantage of its market
dominance in online searches paves the way for a broader crackdown by the EU,
which is investigating several other Google businesses, like its online images
and travel businesses.
“What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules. 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 and the full benefits of innovation,” EU
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told reporters.
To avoid more pain in Europe, Google will have to change
the way it does business in the region. It has 90 days to stop favoring its own
links to online shopping or face more fines of up to 5 percent of the average
daily worldwide revenue of parent company Alphabet.
Google says it is considering an appeal and maintains
it’s just trying to package its search results in a way that makes it easier for
consumers to find what they want.
“When you shop online, you want to find the products
you’re looking for quickly and easily. And advertisers want to promote those
same products. That’s why Google shows shopping ads, connecting our users with
thousands of advertisers, large and small, in ways that are useful for both,”
Kent Walker, senior vice president at Google, said in a statement.
“We will review the Commission’s decision in detail as we consider
an appeal, and we look forward to continuing to make our case,” he said.
The fine is the highest ever imposed in Europe for
anti-competitive behavior, exceeding a 1.06 billion euros penalty on Silicon
Valley chip maker Intel in 2009.
The penalty itself is unlikely to leave a dent in
Google’s finances. Alphabet has more than $92 billion (82 billion euros) in
cash, including nearly $56 billion (50 billion euros) in accounts outside of
Europe.
But it could affect Google’s way of doing business in the
longer-term. U.S. interest groups were quick to latch onto the European ruling
to argue that a similar approach be taken in the United States.
“Some may object to the EU moving so aggressively against
U.S.-based companies, but these authorities are at least trying to deal with
some of the new competitive challenges facing our economy,” said the News Media
Alliance. “U.S. lawmakers and regulatory authorities, by contrast, have been
‘asleep at the switch’ for far too long.”
“We will monitor Google’s compliance closely,” Vestager
said.
She noted that that any company or person who has
suffered damages due to the company’s practices can make claims to national
courts.
More broadly, Vestager said, the probe has established
that Google is dominant in general internet search in all 31 countries of the
European economic area. This will affect other cases the Commission might build
against the internet giant’s various businesses, like Google Images.
She also noted that regulators are making “good progress”
in its other Google probes into Android and search advertising, and that the
“preliminary conclusion” is that they breach EU anti-trust rules.
The Commission has come under fire in the United States
for a perceived bias against U.S. companies.
Vestager said she has examined statistics concerning
anti-trust, merger control and state aid decisions and that “I can find no
facts to support any kind of bias.”
Google
Google's Eric Schmidt talks about how to run the world
(not that he wants to)
June 9, 2008 | 3:48 pm
It was meant to be an
inspiring moment ...
...as Schmidt wrapped
up a speech to the Economic Club
of Washington during a luncheon in a packed
ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Click here for an audio clip of Schmidt's
comments.
The appearance was a
homecoming of sorts for Schmidt. Vernon
E. Jordan Jr., the club's president and a
former President Clinton advisor, noted that Schmidt was born a few blocks away
from the hotel at George Washington University Hospital, and grew up in the
Northern Virginia suburbs. His mother, Ellie Schmidt, was in the audience.
Note: Eric E. Schmidt is the chairman
of Google Inc., the chairman
emeritus for the New America Foundation,
and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Jonathan Soros is
a director at the New America Foundation,
George Soros’s son, and was the vice
chairman for the Foundation to Promote
Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the New America Foundation, and the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George
Soros was the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society, is Jonathan
Soros’s father, and a friend of Michael
Douglas.
L.
John Doerr is a director at Google
Inc., and a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Google Inc. was a
funder for the Aspen Institute (think
tank).
Javier Solana is
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and
was a high representative for common foreign & security policy for the European Union (EU).
European Union
(EU) is the executive body for the European Commission.
European
Commission fined Google Inc. in
2017 for antitrust.
Paul S. Otellini
is a director at Google Inc., and a
director at the Nuclear Threat
Initiative (think tank).
Michael Douglas
is a director at the Nuclear Threat
Initiative (think tank), and a friend of George Soros.
Ted
Turner is a co-chairman for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank), and the founder of CNN.
Walter Isaacson
was a chairman & CEO for CNN,
and is the president & CEO for the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
L.
John Doerr is a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), and a director at Google Inc.
Google Inc. was a
funder for the Aspen Institute (think
tank).
Javier Solana is
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think
tank), and was a high representative for common foreign & security
policy for the European Union (EU).
European Union
(EU) is the executive body for the European Commission.
European
Commission fined Google Inc. in
2017 for antitrust.
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was the lobby firm for Google Inc.
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is a senior counsel for Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, a director at the American Friends of
Bilderberg (think tank), was the president of the Economic Club of Washington, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Susan Molinari
is a director at the Economic Club of
Washington, and a VP for Google Inc.
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