"Google could face a $9bn EU fine for rigging search results in its favour... EU antitrust regulators aim to slap a hefty fine on Alphabet unit Google over its shopping service before the summer break in August, two people familiar with the matter said, setting the stage for two other cases involving the US company. The European Commission's decision will come after a seven-year investigation into the world's most popular internet search engine was triggered by scores of complaints from both US and European rivals... The EU competition authority accused Google in April 2015 of distorting internet search results to favour its shopping service, harming both rivals and consumers..." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...gging-alphabet-shopping-service-a7768621.html " 'Don't be evil' is the motto of Google's corporate code of conduct, first introduced around 2000. Following Google's corporate restructuring under the conglomerate Alphabet Inc. in October 2015, the motto was replaced in the Alphabet corporate code of conduct by the phrase 'Do the right thing'; however, the Google code of conduct is still prefaced by the phrase 'Don't be evil'... ' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_evil
So we can assume that Alphabet's stock will crash on Monday? Perhaps it will fall about a 50 bucks. It's currently at $ 996,12. If they really did this, they should be punished.
"EU hits Google with record 2.42 billion euro antitrust fine... The European Commission said the world's most popular internet search engine has 90 days to stop favouring its own shopping service or face a further penalty of up to 5 percent of Alphabet's average daily global turnover. The Commission found that Google had systematically given prominent placement in searches to its own comparison shopping service and demoted those of rivals in search results..." http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-google-antitrust-idUKKBN19I102
Seems like the EU are the only ones with the ***** to stand up to these corporations. I would like to see them make more restrictive rules on how software operates. Something like all software including operating systems must provide the user with the means to block or allow that software from connecting with the internet, with similar hefty fines for violations.
"Google fights EU price comparison case Google has again rejected the EU's objections to how it displays shopping links in its search results. It said the investigation following complaints from price comparison websites had failed to understand the "reality" of online shopping. It blamed a drop in traffic for price comparison sites on Amazon and others. Europe's competition commissioner first accused the firm of abusing its dominance in search in April 2015 and made further claims in July 2016" From the BBC November 2016^^^^^^^^^^^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37860227 Great to see them punished!
Nothing new here. Just check Google Trends for popular searches and correlate to web traffic of said services/domains. It's also heavily biased toward mobile, with the desktop peak around 2012-ish, and a steady decline since. I'm not talking about desktop usage - I'm talking desktop presence in the search. Mrk
If anyone thinks that Google is going to pay the fine as stated, the answer is no. However they will back down because they got 13 years of profit mongering out of the exercise - that being billions well beyond the allocated fine. Google SE algorithms are set up to change regularly so all they have to do is enable the one that the EU likes and show them that it now meets their requirements of fairness. The EU will declare victory, reduce or withdraw the fine and Google will spin it as a cultural accommodation.
Google could receive second multi-billion dollar EU fine next month More antitrust woes for Google June 7, 2018 https://www.techspot.com/news/74971-google-could-receive-second-multi-billion-dollar-eu.html
This is good for Europe, billions of Euros pays for lots of free healthcare Yayyy keep on breaking the law Google !!
European Probe Of Google AdSense Nears Conclusion https://www.silicon.co.uk/e-marketing/advertising/european-probe-google-adsense-conclusion-238679
Google is 'failing to comply' with EU Shopping ruling, rival services claim November 22, 2018 https://www.theinquirer.net/inquire...-with-eu-shopping-ruling-rival-services-claim
Google faces EU mega-fine over AdSense service 'in weeks' Third time unlucky January 18, 2019 https://www.theinquirer.net/inquire...es-eu-mega-fine-over-adsense-service-in-weeks
Google seeking to promote rivals to stave off EU antitrust action March 18, 2019 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ve-off-eu-antitrust-action-idUSKCN1QZ2AN?il=0
EU's Vestager says Google's antitrust proposal not helping shopping rivals November 7, 2019 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...sal-not-helping-shopping-rivals-idUSKBN1XH2I8
Despite being fined in 2017, Google is still a problem for price comparison services November 28, 2019 https://www.neowin.net/news/despite...still-a-problem-for-price-comparison-services Reuters: Axel Springer unit, others say Google still playing unfairly, want EU to act
Google starts appeal against £2bn shopping fine February 11, 2020 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51462397
