Google on Tuesday was hit with a record $2.7 billion fine by European Union regulators. (Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)
European regulators on Tuesday levied a record-setting fine against internet giant Google after they determined the company had unfairly promoted its own e-commerce options over those of its competitors.
The gargantuan tech company is now on the hook for 2.4 billion euros – or $2.7 billion.
At the heart of the issue are allegations from the European Union that Google "gave prominent placement in its search results only to its own comparison shopping service, whilst demoting rival services," the European Commission said in a statement. The commission determined that this practice "stifled competition on the merits in comparison shopping markets."
"What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules. It denied other companies the chance to compete on the merits and to innovate," Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition commissioner, said in a statement Tuesday. "[I]t denied European consumers a genuine choice of services and the full benefits of innovation."
Vestager said the commission had been investigating Google since 2008 and found that Google Shopping's top competitors were consistently pushed down in search results.
Google now has 90 days to adjust its practices or face hefty fines. But the company has indicated it's considering an appeal of the ruling.
"When you shop online, you want to find the products you're looking for quickly and easily. And advertisers want to promote those same products. That's why Google shows shopping ads, connecting our users with thousands of advertisers, large and small, in ways that are useful for both," Kent Walker, senior vice president at Google, said in a statement.
Though the fine is greater than any other levied against a private-sector entity by the EU – exceeding the previous record of $1.2 billion levied against Intel in 2009, which the company is still trying to appeal – it's just one of several run-ins Google and its parent company, Alphabet, have had with European regulators. Google has previously faced antitrust charges in Europe related to its Android operating system and its web-searching functionality. This is also not the first time that Google Shopping has been viewed critically by the EU.
"When you use Google to search for products, we try to give you what you're looking for," Walker said Tuesday. "Given the evidence, we respectfully disagree with the conclusions announced today."
But Google isn't alone in its battle against hefty European fines and allegations of impropriety. Apple is on the hook for billions of dollars in back taxes to the Irish government. And Facebook in May was slapped with $122 million in fines in relation to the information it provided to regulators in a bid to acquire the WhatsApp messaging service.
Andrew Soergel is an Economy Reporter at U.S. News. You can connect with him on LinkedIn, follow him on Twitter or email him at asoergel@usnews.com.
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