Google Loses Challenge Against EU Antitrust Ruling, $2.8 Billion Fine (reuters.com) 15
Alphabet unit Google lost an appeal against a 2.42-billion-euro ($2.8-billion) antitrust decision on Wednesday, a major win for Europe's competition chief in the first of three court rulings central to the EU push to regulate big tech. From a report: Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager fined the world's most popular internet search engine in 2017 over the use of its own price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals. The shopping case was the first of three decisions that saw Google rack up 8.25 billion euros in EU antitrust fines in the last decade. The company could face defeats in appeals against the other two rulings involving its Android mobile operating system and AdSense advertising service, where the EU has stronger arguments, antitrust specialists say. The court's support for the Commission in its latest ruling could also strengthen Vestager's hand in her investigations into Amazon, Apple and Facebook.
Time to shake out (Score:3, Insightful)
Excellent (Score:1)
The evil people just got slapped down. Expect more of that to happen.
Re: (Score:2)
gweihir chortled:
The evil people just got slapped down. Expect more of that to happen.
Yeah. No.
This was a ruling by a panel of the General Court. It can - and Alphabet has already stated it will be - appealed to the High Court, which is a whole lot less anti-monopolistic than the General Court. Twice in the past, Vestager has persuaded the EC to levy whopping fines against Google/Alphabet. Both were upheld by lower courts, only to be overturned by the High Court.
Vestager is a nutbar with a longtime hardon against Google/Alphabet. The EC is a collection of business representa
Re: (Score:2)
The best search result. (Score:3)
Google is only trying to give people the best search results. Which is obviously Google. Google is approved by Google.
Remember when... (Score:2)
A USD 2,000,000,000 fine seemed like a lot of money?
At USD 135 Billlion in profits for 2020, this fine is running at about the same percentage as inflation.
This is a EU Tax, and nothing more. (Score:4, Insightful)
Google makes at least 15% of it's revenue in Europe.
So, their 100+ billion profit margin (or 15+billion EU profit margin) got hit with a 2% (or EU 7%) tax.
Do you think they even feel that ?
Re: (Score:1)
No, it's the fact that for whatever reason successive American governments have, since the Microsoft anti-trust trial, given up tackling illegal market abuse by American tech companies.
Fortunately for those of us not in America, our governments still believe in preventing market abuse by companies.
That's not a tax, it's merely good governance, just like locking up rapists and murderers is also good governance. The fact America is failing to achieve good governance is America's problem, not the EUs, and god
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No, it's the fact that for whatever reason successive American governments have, since the Microsoft anti-trust trial, given up tackling illegal market abuse by American tech companies.
So true. It is as if the whole US govt has been bought by these giant corps, one just need to check how much money they paid the two parties to confirm that.
The fact America is failing to achieve good governance is America's problem
You are singing to the deaf. Most Americans firmly believed that their system is the best one possible, so by definition, whenever any other country did something different than America, that country made the wrong move. So since the US DOJ did nothing about Google's monopoly, it is wrong for anyone else to rule that Google abused their monopoly.
Amer
At least it will show up as a small blip ... (Score:2)
... on their earnings chart. Which is an improvement over fines in the past.
Re: (Score:1)
Seeing that taxing will shift from havens to local taxing where revenue happens, a 7% fine in this local market certainly is something they feel. Im almost certain that this specific malpractice did not alone cover the size of the fine, so there would be no gain in sustaining the malpractice.
Also, nobody wants to destroy a business because of a malpractice like this. They didn't shove lead into our drinking water, they marginally abused a monopole
In addition, in EU we usually stepwise increase fines for rep
Google: convicted international monopolizer (Score:2)