Google fined $2.38 billion by EU for blocking rival online search advertisers
Google has been slapped with a multi-billion dollar fine by EU anti-trust regulators for blocking rival online search advertisers.
EU antitrust regulators handed down a 1.49 billion euro ($A2.38 billion) fine to Alphabet unit Google on Wednesday for blocking rival online search advertisers, marking the company’s third penalty in two years.
EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Google had impose anti- competitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites. “Google has cemented its dominance in online search adverts and shielded itself from competitive pressure,” she said.
“This is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” Vestager said in a statement, adding that the misconduct lasted more than a decade, denying other companies the chance to compete on their own merits.
The decision relates to search functions embedded on websites such as newspaper platforms, blogs or online travel aggregators. When users search the website, they deliver search results as well as adverts appearing alongside. Last year, the EU competition enforcer imposed a record 4.34 billion euro ($A6.9 billion) fine on Google for using its popular Android mobile operating system to block rivals.
This followed a 2.42 billion euro ($A3.86 billion) fine in 2017 for hindering rivals of shopping comparison websites.
Reuters
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