Google has received another antitrust fine in Europe – Google Hit With Another Antitrust Fine in Europe

Published on: March 21, 2019 / Update from: March 21, 2019 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

The European Commission yesterday handed down another antitrust fine against Google, fining it €1.49 billion ($1.69 billion) for unfairly shielding its AdSense advertising platform from competition. “Today the Commission imposed fines of €1.49 billion on Google for illegally abusing its dominant position in the online search ad placement market. “Google has consolidated its dominance in the online search advertising industry and protected itself from competitive pressure through anti-competitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites,” Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in an official statement.

The European Commission's recent decision against Google is by no means the first time that the EU watchdog has taken action against an American technology company. In fact, Google itself only got a taste of EU antitrust rules last year. In July 2018, the European Commission imposed a record-breaking fine of €4.3 billion on Google over Android-related allegations, after the company was fined €2.4 billion in July 2017 for anti-competitive behavior related to Google Shopping (2 .7 billion dollars).

As the graphic below illustrates, other tech giants have also felt the wrath of the European Commission. Microsoft alone has been fined four times in the last two decades, including three times for allegedly violating previous antitrust sanctions and for breaking promises made in a previous antitrust settlement. Margrethe Vestager, the EU Commissioner responsible for competition, has made US technology companies a central issue and has taken action against anti-competitive behavior, tax avoidance and abuse of user privacy.

The European Commission announced yet another antitrust fine against Google today, imposing a €1.49 billion ($1.69b) penalty for unfairly shielding its AdSense advertising platform from the competition. “Today the Commission has found Google €1.49 billion for illegal misuse of its dominant position in the market for the brokering of online search adverts. “Google has cemented its dominance in online search ads and shielded itself from competitive pressure by imposing anti-competitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites,” commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in an official statement.

The European Commission's latest ruling against Google is by no means the first time that the EU's watchdog has taken action against an American tech company. In fact, Google itself got a taste of EU antitrust regulation as recently as last year. In July 2018, the European Commission hit Google with a record-breaking €4.3 billion fine for allegations related to Android after having found the company €2.4 billion ($2.7b) for anticompetitive behavior related to Google Shopping in July 2017.

As the following chart illustrates, other tech giants have felt the wrath of the European Commission as well. Microsoft alone has been found four times over the past two decades including three times for allegedly ignoring previous antitrust sanctions and for breaking promises made in an earlier antitrust settlement. The EU's commission competitor, Margrethe Vestager, has made US tech companies a central focus, cracking down on anticompetitive behavior, tax avoidance and mishandling of user privacy.

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