Google takes on EU in court over record antitrust fines

By Administrator_India,

Capital Sands

Google will on Wednesday seek to overturn the first of three hefty European Union antitrust fines at Europe’s second-highest court in a landmark case that could determine how EU enforcers take on U.S. tech giants for abuse of market power.

The company will lay out its arguments against a 2.4-billion-euro fine handed out by the European Commission during a three-day hearing at the General Court.

The EU has fined Google a total of 8.25 billion euros in three separate cases, including one involving its Android smartphone operating system. This is four times more than its rival Microsoft’s EU fines of 2.2 billion euros. Both companies’ regulatory troubles in Europe have lasted a decade.

Google is expected to launch a three-pronged attack against the Commission’s 2017 decision which also included an order to treat competitors equally.

“It is wrong on the law, the facts, and the economics. Shopping ads have always helped people find the products they are looking for quickly and easily, and helped merchants to reach potential customers,” Google said in a statement.

“Google’s search service acts as a de-facto kingmaker. If you are not found, the rest cannot follow. No company should be allows to abuse such position to promote its own services at the detriment of competitors and consumers alike,”