The European Union’s chief of the competition committee has created a statement of objections against Google, alleging that the search giant has been abusing its dominance in the Internet searches.
Margrethe Vestager, the Competition Commissioner debriefed the media on the weekly Commission’s meeting where issues of antitrust are usually discussed.
Google now has ten weeks to respond.
Besides outlining the EU’s belief that, the search giant has been illegally rigging its search results in providing search results that are related and close to Google brands, Margarethe Vestager also announced that the European Union is opening an inquiry into whether Google uses its Android mobile platform to gain an unfair advantage against the direct competition.
The Commission also accuses Google of improper dominance. The search giant own 90% of market shares on the research market in Europe. Vestager stated the: “Dominance as such is improper”.
In 2014, Google had a 66 billion USD turnover (one-third of it made in Europe), and the fine could go up to 10% of this sum, if Google is found guilty.
The main objection, is that Google is breaking antitrust rules by diverting traffic from rivals to favour its own service, especially in its shopping comparison services. The charge could be extended to other areas, and not only to searches, declared Margarethe Vestager.
Serving Google with a statement of objections is the opening most vigorous antitrust case of the internet era. It could prove as epic as the decade-long battle with Microsoft that ultimately cost the company billions in fines.
The commission’s move comes after a five-year investigation that Google came close to settling without charges last year. The draft deal collapsed after vehement objections were raised by ministers in France and Germany, and by some of the continent’s most powerful telecoms and media groups.
The commission probe will examine whether Google imposes uncompetitive terms on handset makers that ultimately favour its own lucrative apps such as YouTube. Google rejects any allegations of wrongdoing and says Android is an open platform distributed free.
Could this be an epic trial between the EU and Google, or it’s just another attempt of the European Union to carry out some sort of performance to demonstrate its power over the internet in Europe.
