Antitrust regulators at the European Union (EU) handed down the biggest fine ever imposed on a single company in an antitrust case on Alphabet's Google on Tuesday. This action comes after a seven-year investigation into the company along with a number of complaints from many of Google's rivals like TripAdvisor, Yelp and News Corp.
How much was Google fined?
Google was hit by the European Union with a record-breaking fine of $2.42 billion euros ($2.7 billion), which was much larger than the rumored amount a few weeks ago. The previous largest fine ever given to one company in an EU antitrust case was back in 2009, when Intel was fined $1.06 million euros ($1.4 billion).
Google now has 90 days to stop favoring its own shopping service or it faces a further penalty of up to 5% of parent company Alphabet's daily global turnover. The current fine is the equivalent of 3% of Alphabet's daily global turnover, meaning it is equal to about $12 million a day based on Alphabet's turnover of $90.3 billion last year.
The EU's investigation into Google
That the first fine that Google was hit with was record-breaking fine is a bad sign for them. This wrapped up only the first of three investigations by antitrust regulators at the European Union into the technology and search engine giant. These investigations all center around Google's supremacy in smartphones and online searches.
During the investigation, it was found that Google, which controls more than 90% of market shares in online searches in many European countries, had consistently given marque placement in searches for its comparison shopping service. At the same time, it was also reducing the same services from its rivals in search results.
Naturally, Google came out and disagreed with the decision that was made against them. They argued that their data showed that people favored links taking them straight to products and not to websites. Their general counsel also said that the company will consider an appeal after fully reviewing the decision.
The European Commission, which is the arm of the EU that handles antitrust, has also charged the company with using its Android mobile operating system to squash its competitors. This investigation could hurt Google the most since this system is used in the majority of smartphones. The company as also been accused of blocking its competition in online search advertising.
