EU To Sue Google For €1.1bn Over Monopoly Abuse Case

Google will be hit with a record fine for abusing its monopoly over internet search on Tuesday, seven years after the EU began investigating the technology giant.

The European Commission plans to announce its decision into the long-running case on Tuesday morning, it is understood.

The commission will impose the record fine for breaking EU competition law, saying Google used its dominant search engine to unfairly promote the Google Shopping service at the expense of smaller price-comparison websites.

It is understood that the European Commission is aiming to hit Google with a fine in the region of €3bn, a figure that would easily surpass its toughest anti-trust punishment to date, a €1.1bn fine levied on the microchip giant Intel.

Sources close to the situation said officials aimed to make an announcement before the summer break and could make their move as early as next month, although cautioned that Google’s bill for crushing competition online had not been finalised.

The maximum possible is around €6.6bn, or a tenth of Google’s total annual sales.

It will mark a watershed moment in Silicon Valley’s competition battle with Brussels. Google has already been formally charged with unlawfully promoting its own price comparison service in general search results while simultaneously relegating those of smaller rivals, denying them traffic.

As well facing as a heavy fine, Google will be banned from continuing to manipulate search results to favour itself and harm rivals. The company has fiercely resisted such interference in its algorithms, the heart of its business, and sought to placate regulators with offers to redesign the presentation of results, a gambit that ultimately failed.

The decision will be a milestone moment in Google’s lengthy battle with the EU, as well as a critical point in relations between the US and Brussels, which has become increasingly concerned about the power of Silicon Valley’s internet companies. Google is also fighting two other competition cases with the commission that could see it hit with heavy fines.

Hey Steemers, if you like this post please upvote and don't forget to upvote. KEEP STEEMING.