“Europe’s antitrust regulators slapped Google with a big fine Wednesday for the third time in less than two years, ordering the tech giant to pay 1.49 billion euros ($1.7 billion) for freezing out rivals in the online advertising business,” Kelvin Chan and Raf Casert report for The Associated Press. “The ruling brings to nearly $10 billion the fines imposed against Google by the European Union. ”
“Still, the latest penalty isn’t likely to have much effect on Google’s business. It involves practices the company says it already ended, and the sum is just a fraction of the $31 billion in profit that its parent, Alphabet, made last year,” Chan and Casert report. “The EU ruling applies to a narrow portion of Google’s ad business: when Google sells ads next to Google search results on third-party websites.”
“Google did not say whether it would appeal. ‘We’ve already made a wide range of changes to our products to address the commission’s concerns,’ Google’s senior vice president of global affairs, Kent Walker, said in a statement,” Chan and Casert report. “The EU has led the way in promoting tougher regulation of big tech companies… U.S. regulators haven’t been as tough, though the Federal Trade Commission recently created a task force focused on anti-competitive behavior in the industry.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Too little too late.
You know why there are fifteen ads where there used to be three? Google.
We’d like to see real competition in the online search and advertising markets restored someday.
SEE ALSO:
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp: Google must be broken up due to its ‘overwhelming’ market power – March 12, 2019
European Union hits Google with record $2.73 billion fine for abusing internet search monopoly – June 27, 2017
Google’s Eric Schmidt wore staff badge at Hillary Clinton’s ‘victory’ party – November 16, 2016
WikiLeaks emails show extremely close relationship between Clinton campaign and Google’s Eric Schmidt – November 1, 2016
EU alleges Google skews search results to boost its own products and services – July 14, 2016
Eric Schmidt-backed startup stealthily working to put Hillary Clinton in the White House – October 9, 2015
U.S. FTC report details how Google skewed search results in its own favor – March 20, 2015
The FTC’s missed opportunity on Google – January 4, 2013
Google to settle U.S. FTC antitrust probe, sources say – January 2, 2013
Obama to reward Google’s Schmidt with Cabinet post? – December 5, 2012
Google outfoxes U.S. FCC – April 17, 2012
Consumer Watchdog calls for probe of Google’s inappropriate relationship with Obama administration – January 25, 2011
Wired: Google, CIA Invest in ‘future’ of Web monitoring – July 29, 2010
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “TJ” for the heads up.]
When your people riot in the streets due to over taxation, there’s always the Google ATM machine.
I dont know. Around the time US americans rioted at their country, my moher and grandma just made it back alive from Gulag. No riots in their hometown to participate in. Everything was dead calm and cool. Headmaster of my class, Mrs Paal, used to sneak into church during Cristmas Eve and write down kids name she was able to recognize and ridiculed them next day in front of the whole class. But no riots back then, KGB sure got it under control.
Maybe Ii should cash out from that Google ATM and buy some more AAPL…
Fuck off back to the desert sand monkey. Europe allow American companies to do fair trade in Europe – but it’s a walled-garden just like Apple’s.
If Google want to play in EU’s playground, they gotta play by the rules. Did you ever hear about Trump’s trade war? And are you fucking stupid, and have you fucked off back to the sand yet you fucking monkey?
I have no problem with your comment other than the use of “monkey” is a much harsher term than you might think. It’s vulgar.
This is me giving you the benefit of ththe doubt.
Who are you? This is the first comment I made to this poster in many, many years of reading MDN. His comment was the final straw and I lashed out for the first time in a long time. Are you the MDN police?
Just a person expressing an opinion. Who the f are you?
Thanks for your insightful and well articulated post, Kong. Such precise and powerful use of the English language. A real pleasure to read. I’m sure you convinced everyone here — if only we know what the fuck you were ranting about.
What’s a “sand monkey?”
A racial/ethnic epithet.
All for it.
That’s approx. one month of Google’s 2018 net income. Is that a punishment or an irritation?
You mean like the amount Qualcomm won from Apple?
Sure is too little too late but what do you expect from a company from Apple’s home nation, to play by the rules? Ha, that would be the day.
It’s a good thing someone is leading and it’s impressive, after all “Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s top competition commissioner, said Google had engaged in “illegal practices” in a bid to “cement its dominant market position” in the search and advertising markets. She also said additional antitrust scrutiny of the tech giant was still to come.” and MDN did not make a disparaging comment about her. Either a missed opportunity or someone is growing a new synapse.
Maybe paying up for Google will be easier than showing some civilized behavior coming from that company. That and fixing their maps so it doesn’t show that weapons of mass destruction program in Iraq.
Good thing google has cash, their morality vaults are empty.