The European Commission is ready to lay down a record $3.4 billion dollar (€3 billion euros) fine on Google in their case that’s been going since 2010. The European Commission has been investigating Google (Alphabet) since 2010 on accusations that it promoted its services on Google search over the competition. When users searched for certain services in Google’s search engine, Google’s services would be at or near the top, even if it wasn’t the best or most popular service.
Reuters reports that after 3 attempts at resolving the issue with the European Commission since 2010, Google is not going to try and settle unless they change their stance. The Sunday Telegraph reports that officials plan on officially announcing the fine next month and Google will also be banned from manipulating search results to favor Google services.
The European Commission can fine firms up to 10 percent of their annual sales, which in Google’s case would be a maximum possible sanction of more than $6.7 billion dollars (€6 billion euros). The biggest antitrust fine to date was a 1.1 billion euro fine of chip-maker Intel in 2009. The Commission declined to comment, while Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
With this dispute dragging on for so long, Google may just be ready for it to be over and done with. A $3.4 billion dollar fine isn’t going to strike a huge blow financially to the Google or its parent company, Alphabet. They may suffer from some image issues in the European Union for a short time but they will likely recover from all of that quickly.
What do you think of the European Commission laying down this record fine on Google? Is it justified? Did Google really take advantage of search results in the European Union? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or hit us up on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
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