The EU's powerful anti-trust regulator slapped tech giant Google with a new fine on Wednesday over unfair competition in Europe's latest salvo against Silicon Valley.
Google delivered the vast majority of income for parent firm Alphabet as"other bets" saw rising revenues. AFP/File/Tobias SCHWARZ
Google and the EU have been at loggerheads about the monopoly of Google over internet search in Europe since 2009 and the AdSense case was the only complaint still open. “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,” Vestager said.
A year earlier it slapped Google with a fine of 2.42 billion euros for abusing its dominant position by favouring its “Google Shopping” price comparison service in search results.Responding to this latest ruling, Google public affairs chief Kent Walker said the company had “already made a wide range of changes to our products to address the Commission’s concerns.
The change would apply to shopping aggregators, as well as tourist and travel advice sites such as Trip Advisor and Yelp.
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