Google has been fined with a record-breaking $2.7 billion(174231000000 Indian Rupee) by the European Union for breaking antitrust law. This decision was made after a seven-year investigation into the US company’s search algorithms, which ended with the judgment that Google had “abused its dominant position by systematically favoring” its shopping comparison service.
The fine is the largest antitrust judgment handed out by the executive body of the EU, the European Commission, topping a €1 billion penalty given to Intel in 2009.
The main reason of the case is Google Shopping, a price comparison specialty built into the Google’s search engine. The commission’s antitrust filing states that Google showed users results from Google Shopping “irrespective of [their] merits,” depriving rival price comparison sites of traffic. The EU argues that because Google is so overwhelmingly dominant in Europe, it should not be allowed to undermine competitors actively.
As part of today’s decision, Google will have to make changes how its search algorithm ranks websites, to “comply with the simple principle of giving equal treatment to rival comparison shopping services and its service.” This is a major imposition that Google will take it seriously. If it does not end its current conduct, the EU says the company faces daily penalties of up to five percent of its average daily turnover.
