according To the Financial Times, Google would be subject to a record fine of 13 billion dollars (approximately 12 billion euros). This corresponds to 10 % of the last global turnover of the parent company of Google, Alphabet. The last investigation focuses on the activity of AdSense, the advertising network of Google. The place its field of research on third-party Web sites such as information sites. The commission accuses the Us of having abused its dominant position in Internet search to favour its services to the detriment of those of potential rivals.
Google and its restrictions
Google restricted contractually the manner in which the third-party Web sites display the ads of your competitors. As stated in the indictment of 2016, officials from the european Union (EU) are concerned as well as the american giant “reduced artificially the choice and stifles innovation on the market”. The record of the EU is based on the requirements of Google introduced in 2006. These last compelled certain third party Web sites to use its advertising service, AdSense, if they wanted to include the Google search box on their site. These restrictions have been eased by the american society in 2009. Internet sites could be to put before advertisers competitors on their pages. However, they were forced to display a minimum number of Google ads in prime locations. They also had to grant the american giant, the right to authorize changes in the ads of competitors. The terms of the contract were eventually eliminated in 2016.
Margrethe Vestager, the european commissioner for competition, will specify the amount of the fine next week, according to three people familiar with the matter. It is also possible that this amount is significantly less than the $ 13 billion, an amount equal to the maximum fine that the commission may impose. The sanction will terminate the investigation on AdSense, even if Google retains the ability to make a call. In contrast, the european competition authorities continue to closely monitor the behavior of Google in other services, such as research travel, or jobs. They are thus likely to open new investigations.
today, Google has already paid 7 billion euro fine for the two cases of abuse of dominant position. Last July, the u.s. giant had been ordered to pay eur 4.3 billion. He was accused of undermining competition with its Android mobile operating system. It has also been forced to pay 2.4 billion euros in 2017 for favouring its own price comparison service, Google Shopping, to the detriment of its competitors. The european Commission is considering always the remedies put in place to determine if these patches Android and buying services are sufficient.
