The European Commission is concerned that Google’s strategic actions to protect and increase its prominence in internet searching (via its open source Android mobile operating system) may have harmed consumers by restricting competition and innovation. Following a year’s investigation, the corporation now has 12 weeks to respond to the European Commission’s Statement of Objections, and, if Brussels chooses to follow through with the complaint, Google may need to pay a fine of up to £5.8bn ($7.4bn), which equates to 10% of its global revenue. “If dominance is abused then we have an issue and that has been the case.” In response to the complaint from Brussels, Google said it would “vigorously defend against these allegations” but did not comment on whether or not it had paid any fines.
The European Commission is concerned that Google’s strategic actions to protect and increase its prominence in internet searching (via its open source Android mobile operating system) may have harmed consumers by restricting competition and innovation. Following a year’s investigation, the corporation now has 12 weeks to respond to the European Commission’s Statement of Objections, and, if Brussels chooses to follow through with the complaint, Google may need to pay a fine of up to £5.8bn ($7.4bn), which equates to 10% of its global revenue. In response to the complaint from Brussels, Google said it would “vigorously defend against these allegations” but did not comment on whether or not it had paid any fines.