Google receives the largest fine ever imposed by the European Commission

The world's leading search engine has been fined €2.42 billion for abusing its dominant market position. This marks the first time the European Commission has penalized conduct related to internet searches, imposing a €2.42 billion fine on Google. The European Commission accuses Google of prioritizing its own online sales services when a user uses its search engine to find a product they want to buy, thus marginalizing other competitors.

The reason for the fine

This is the highest penalty ever levied by the EU against a company for violating antitrust laws or abusing its dominant market position. Google has 90 days to "cease its conduct," or risks a fine of up to 51% of the daily global revenue of Alphabet, its parent company.

According to the European Commission, Google denies other companies the opportunity to compete on a level playing field and innovate, as well as denying European consumers a genuine choice of services and benefits.

What does Google say about it?

Google, for its part, has argued that customers don't only buy through search engines like theirs, but also use online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, and TripAdvisor. However, their arguments haven't been very convincing to Brussels.

The universal search engine is confident that the changes will be limited to presenting Google-related offers in a less attractive way, but they will likely have a deeper impact.