[Update] – Google has shared a statement on the fine imposed by EU
When you shop online, you want to find the products you’re looking for quickly and easily. And advertisers want to promote those same products. That’s why Google shows shopping ads, connecting our users with thousands of advertisers, large and small, in ways that are useful for both. We believe the European Commission’s online shopping decision underestimates the value of those kinds of fast and easy connections. While some comparison shopping sites naturally want Google to show them more prominently, our data show that people usually prefer links that take them directly to the products they want, not to websites where they have to repeat their searches.
The European Commission has fined Google 2.42 billion euro for breaching EU antitrust rules. The search engine giant was expected to hit with a fine up to 3 billion euro. EU had filed formal antitrust charges on Google last year over claims that it has abused its market dominance as a search engine by giving an illegal advantage to another Google product, its comparison shopping service.
Continue reading “EU hits Google with record 2.42 billion euro fine over antitrust case”