EU Slams $2.7b Fine on Google

By Dipo Olowookere

Tech giant, Google, has been fined $2.7 billion by the European Union (EU) for not giving competitors a level playing ground on its search engine.

This fine comes barely a year after another US tech firm, Apple, was fined by the EU $14.5 billion following an investigation into an Irish tax pact.

A statement issued today quoted the EU Commissioner for Competition, Ms Magrethe Vestager, as saying that Google “denied other companies the chance to compete” on its search engine.

It was said that when consumers make searches for commodities via the Google search engine, the firm makes its stores come first on from pages, pushing other competitors like Amazon, eBay and others to back page.

EU described this as unfair on the part of Google and said the company needed to be fined for this because it violated its ‘fair play’ rules.

According to Vestager, Google has given “an illegal advantage” to itself over its competitors by abusing “its market dominance as a search engine.”

The Commissioner said Google has up to 90 days to give equal treatment to its competitors or risk consequences of penalty fines.

But reacting, Google’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Mr Kent Walker, said the US-based firm “respectfully disagree” with the EU and said it would be appealed.