EU: Google rivals go to EC; “remedies ineffective”

Google should be hit with further sanctions because last year’s US$2.6 billion EU fine has done nothing to improve competition, the search giant’s opponents have claimed.

Nineteen companies and organisations, several of which launched the complaints that led to last year’s record antitrust penalty, have signed an open letter to Europe’s Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager.

They say that the changes introduced to Google’s search results since the fine have been “ineffective” and claim that consumers and competition continue to suffer. If the Commission agrees with the complainants, the company faces further multi-billion euro fines.

The EU fined Google €2.4bn (US$2.7 billion at the time) last June after a seven-year antitrust investigation, with complainants saying it was exploiting its search monopoly to promote its online shopping service, at the expense of price comparison websites.

As well as paying the fine, in September Google introduced its own “remedy” that allowed other companies to bid against its own shopping service for the prominent advertising slots when shoppers search for items such as televisions, sunglasses and handbags.

Full Content: Politico

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