EU slaps Google with $2.7 billion antitrust fine

Expected for months, the antitrust penalty was supposed to be closer to $1 billion. However, today the EU leveled a much larger 2.4 billion euro ($2.7 billion) fine against Google for alleged abuse of its market power in vertical (shopping) search. Though the fine is not a surprise, the amount is. In the climax of a decade-long antitrust saga that at one time was close to settlement, Google is being punished for allegedly “favoring its own content” in shopping search results. Google has vehemently denied that its practices harm competition or consumers. Instead, Google has argued that its results are beneficial and match evolving consumer demands: Google has always worked to improve its services, creating new ways to provide better answers and show more useful ads. We’ve taken seriously the concerns in the European Commission’s Statement of Objections (SO) that our innovations are anti-competitive. The response we filed today shows why we believe those allegations are incorrect, and why we believe that Google increases choice for European Search Engine Land Source

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