The European Commission has imposed a fine of € 1.49 billion on Google for violating European competition rules when advertising is placed on the Internet and allocated to it when searching online. This was announced on Wednesday at a briefing in Brussels, the European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager.
“The European Commission today decided to impose a fine on Google in the amount of € 1.49 billion for the illegal abuse of a dominant position in the market of Internet search services. Google has violated the rules on competition when placing online advertising and highlighting it in online search results. All of these violations are enshrined in contractual obligations that Google has imposed on its partners – the owners of websites, “she said.
Vestager explained that the antitrust investigation of the European Commission against Google covers the period from 2006 to 2016.
The European Commission on Wednesday presented a whole bloc of accusations against an American company on various marketing practices, ranging from placing the first Google search sites on Google’s web partners to mobile device manufacturers and operating systems for them to include Pre-installed Google search applications. The EC stressed that these practices were aimed at “cementing Google’s dominant position in the European market and discouraging free competition in search and advertising on the Internet.