Google Facing Record $3.4 Billion Fine For Alleged EU Antitrust Violations
As huge as Google is, it's sometimes easy to think of it as being invincible. The American company seemingly gets away with whatever it wants simply because it dominates its competition. But, the European Union has time and time again proven that Google is not invincible, and in fact, it could now be facing the EU's largest penalty to date.
The EU's spat with Google began a while ago, but really hit a peak when the EU formally hit the big G with antitrust charges last spring. As always, Google has been in defensive mode, although it did concede last summer that it doesn't always 'get it right'. Still, it eventually publicly called BS on the EU's allegations.
Fast-forward to a month ago and we saw the EU shoot a second set of antitrust charges a Google, specifically for its app and search bundling with Android. Again, Google remains adamant that it only helps competition and that it doesn't stifle it. However, a mere week after that second set of antitrust charges was shot over, the FTC made it known that it was investigating Google for similar reasons. We also can't ignore the fact that Russia has already charged Google for antitrust violations, requiring it to "unbundle" its own apps in Android.
If you're interested in seeing just where this will go, your wait is not going to be that long. It's expected that decisions will be made on this in early June, to preface the "summer break". We can say one thing for sure: Google will appeal, but given where things stand right now, it's hard to imagine that its outcome would change.
