The European Commission has fined the American company Alphabet, owner of Google, 2.95 billion euros for abusing its dominant position in the advertising technology market. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
International media outlets reported on this. According to the Commission, Google gave unfair advantages to its services over competitors, exerting pressure on advertisers and online publishers.
As a result, the company disrupted the competitive environment. The European Commission demanded that Google cease such practices and stop artificially favoring its services.
Google stated its intention to appeal the decision. According to the company's Vice President for Regulatory Affairs, Li-Enn Malholland, the decision could be harmful to thousands of European companies and limit their ability to generate revenue.
As Bloomberg emphasized, this decision was made amid heightened trade tensions between the European Union and the United States. Former President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized the EU's policies towards large technology companies and considered the adopted laws aimed at restricting American business.
Trump did not hide his stance this time either and threatened to initiate an investigation under Section 301 of the US law in response to the European Commission's decision. This section grants the president the authority to take unilateral measures against unfair actions by other countries towards American businesses.
In his statement, Trump highlighted that Europe has today struck another major American company – Google – imposing a 3.5 billion dollar fine, and that these funds should be spent on investments and job creation in the US. It is worth recalling that Google has previously been held accountable several times by the European Commission.
In 2017, the company paid a 2.4 billion euro fine for illegally abusing its dominant market position. In 2018, it was fined another 4.3 billion euros for violating antitrust laws.
Thus, there is a possibility that the confrontation around major technology companies between Europe and America may intensify further.
