Google Fined $1.7 Billion Over Monopolistic Practices
The European fee has reportedly slapped Google with a 1.49 billion Euro (or $1.69 billion USD) tremendous for “abusing its monopoly in online advertising.” More particularly, the report alleges that Google prevented corporations that utilizing its search service from operating any third social gathering adverts, and the fee claims that “Google’s rivals were not able to compete on the merits, either because there was an outright prohibition for them to appear on publisher websites or because Google reserved for itself by far the most valuable commercial space on those websites, while at the same time controlling how rival search adverts could appear.” Google apparently modified these practices in 2016, nevertheless it took a while for the repercussions to meet up with them.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competitors commissioner, mentioned: “Google has cemented its dominance in online search adverts and shielded itself from competitive pressure by imposing anti-competitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules. The misconduct lasted over 10 years and denied other companies the possibility to compete on the merits and to innovate – and consumers the benefits of competition.”
