EU imposes €890 million competition fine on Google over its Play app store and search
The European Commission said it found that Google had preferenced its search engine and app store in ways that unfairly harmed competition. The European Union
The European Commission said it found that Google had preferenced its search engine and app store in ways that unfairly harmed competition. The European Union has imposed fines of €890 million ($1.015 billion) on US tech giant Google for violating EU digital regulations. The European Commission said it found that Google had preferenced its ubiquitious search engine and its Play app store in ways that unfairly harmed competition.
"We found that Google harms businesses offering similar services, such as shopping or sports, by not granting them the same level of prominence on Google Search," European Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen said. "We also found that Google has restricted app developers from offering cheaper offers to customers in the Google Play app store," Virkkunen, who also serves as commissioner for digital technologies, said.
The commission stressed that Google could face further fines if it does not take steps to comply with regulations. The European Commission already imposed a €4.3 billion penalty on Google in 2018, accusing the company of abusing Android system's market dominance by requiring phone makers to pre-install Google Search and the Google Chrome web browser.
The firm lost its appeal against the fine in February. More to come...
The BriefWire