Google Is Spending Half a Billion Dollars To Curry Europe's Favor (cnet.com) 72
An anonymous reader writes: Google has ratchet up its investment in European goodwill, aiming to spend about $450 million from 2015 to 2017 as EU regulators narrow their gaze on the search giant, according to a report by the New York Times. The company is pouring money into wide-ranging sponsorships, like an exhibition at a Belgian museum incorporating virtual reality, a fund to help European news publishers amp up their web savvy, a digital training course for Irish teachers, and YouTube-backed concerts, according to the report.
So... rather than not doing what pisses them off (Score:1)
They spend 500 million bribing people to like them?
Re:So... rather than not doing what pisses them of (Score:4, Insightful)
They spend 500 million bribing people to like them?
One assumes they must be worried about be hit much harder, were they to be made to pay taxes in proportion to their earnings.
Re: So... rather than not doing what pisses them o (Score:5, Informative)
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Re: So... rather than not doing what pisses them o (Score:5, Funny)
European roads have bends in them.
It's spelled 'Benz'.
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Good points on EU economy/population volume.
On the industrial size of Germany's output you have wandered quite a bit there. Up until recently GM was the largest car manufacturer in the world (since WW II). This changed because line workers in Detroit were making a lot more than software engineers. They couldn't sustain that for long just because we won WW II.
But US based manufacturing wasn't surpased by Germany. It was Japan.
I'm not sure which countr
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FTFY
FTFY
(For what it's worth, I think the best cars in the world are made in Japan at this point.)
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We can also leave a car meet without ploughing into the crowd.
Also as a JDM fanboy, I have to say that Japan no longer makes the worlds best cars, hasn't done since the early 00's. Long gone are the days of budget super and sports cars rivalling their European counterparts for half the price.
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That is indeed true. And you can figure out these choices when you recognize that BMW, Audi, and similar cars are status symbols: they are supposed to look expensive, feel expensive, and have high end specs, while minimizing displacement (=taxable), maximi
Economies are the same (Score:1)
As for the comment about the U.S. breaking the back of Germany....all I can say is that your mind exists is a sad, warped place. I honestly feel sorry for y
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It's very probable that after the Volkswagen scandal the US will either break the back of Germany's industrial base or, more probably, cripple it so badly that the EU will be left in thrall of American policy forever.
Lots of big-boy words, fuck all big-boy thinking. The world doesn't work remotely like that. What age are you?
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The people who are pissed off by Google in Europe are these astroturfers [openinternetproject.net]. They are trying to protect their stranglehold on European media and public opinion, plus the politicians they have in their pockets.
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Google is an American company anything they do will piss them off. Just as an European or Asian company will piss off the US if they are more successful than a US company.
The political instinct when you are getting beaten is to say the other guy is cheating thus try to put rules in place to make the game more fair. Even if the reason why their success is just because they are better than the competition.
This 500 million dollars is just showing while Google may win, it is being a good sport about it.
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European truck manufacturers together having the bulk of the European market just received fines of in total almost €3B in total for forming a cartel. That was not because they are American companies, because they aren't, they're European. It's because that didn't play by the rules. Don't assume American companies are being treated differently from European companies, those get huge fines when they break the rules too.
And personally I don't see the $5M from Google as being a good sport, I see it as a b
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They're basically playing a card from the Microsoft and Intel book and seeing if it sticks. I also hope it doesn't but you know what. The politicians have probably been or will be bribed soon as well so it won't matter.
Apple and Amazon are more egregious examples of this tax-evasion and so far they have done squat.
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They spend 500 million bribing people to like them?
You assume the whole business of the EU Commission being in a dither wasn't a shakedown to start.
Re: Umm, Curry (Score:2)
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This brings up all sorts of questions... Indian or Thai curry? Massaman or Masala? Chicken or Beef? How spicy? Does coconut kurma count as a curry? Does this show a bias towards the Brits who will only be part of the EU for a short time? What about Chinese Or Japanese curry? Will they be fairly represented? Inquiring minds want to know....
Here in the valley we have both types: food curry, and Steph Curry.
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No Haskell?
How about they pay their taxes instead? (Score:2)
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I just hope they'll pay their bribes + TAXES 100%
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The problem is not a lack of follow the law.
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google's tax lawyers understand the tax laws better than the people who wrote them. ...
And here I thought that corps and lobbyists *did* write them. My bad.
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Business taxes are a huge red herring. Most businesses pay the largest amount of their money out in wages; even when they don't, they end up paying much of their money out to other businesses, which pay wages, and so forth. These wages aren't just tax revenue; they pay money directly to workers, who then go on to buy things, creating demand and other jobs.
Most businesses keep about 5-10% profits. Most businesses pay over a third of their income as wages, and often over 50% in the service industry. In
Charity and community involvement are evil! (Score:3, Funny)
Of course Google should never give their own money to filthy liberal Europeans; those savages probably aren't even circumcised!
Saints Reagan and Rand are rolling in their blessed graves.
MONEY IS ONLY FOR HURTING PEOPLE! SAVE THE MONIES!
President Trump will fix all this, you betcha.
Comment removed (Score:3)
Failed Strategy (Score:2, Troll)
Google is soon going to realize how giving them money will result in them wanting more money. They should just pay their taxes and leave it at that. Europe isn't going to ease off on Google. They are a cash cow and Europe is hungry for cash.
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The US works with bribes. European countries are more likely to hold bribes against you. They will then triple the amount owed to make it hurt. (remember the number $1.5bn -- it will come up again)
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Do you pay more in taxes than you need to? Do you skip itemizing your mortgage interest because you consider it an unfair advantage over renters? Do you keep your retirement savings in a taxable taxable brokerage account rather than "dodging" your fair share of capital gains tax with one of those evil 401k "tax shelters"?
Same deal here. Google, Apple, et al have done
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If this was a movie, Google would be the hapless businessman with a gambling habit arguing with the mafioso about the vig.
"But I paid the vig we talked about last week, every dollar."
"Yeah, but you know, this is this week and we want something extra."
"I'm only paying what we agreed on."
"Yeah, that business you own might have some problems. Think of this as extra protection against business problems. It comes along with the sports book."
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The companies in question have all failed to pay their taxes according to EU standards [independent.co.uk]. EU won't allow American multinationals to operate tax free. Sorry, there are no free rides.
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How does that compare to US? (Score:1)
Just wondering if that's more than or less than the money used to bribe, I mean make campaign donations to, politicians in the USA.
If it's less then Google may well see that as a bargain.
Of course plummeting Sterling means that UK politicians are going to be cheaper than most at the moment but it's a pretty small market that now comes with zero European influence, so that's unlikely to be money well spent.
just pay your tax google! (Score:1)
What a waste of money.
Nobody cares for goodwill gestures that don't end up anywhere useful.
How about just paying your fair share?
It shows how tricky political timing is. (Score:2)
Google applies 500 million in curry to the EU just as the UK votes for Brexit.
How about just pay your taxes? (Score:3)
At the same time, the west need to start taxing goods that go across borders. It is amazing to me that our GOP fight this, even though it would level the playing field.
if they paid their due taxes, this would be (Score:2)
...completely unnecessary.
Curry (Score:1)