this European UnionCompetition Commissioner wins Google On Wednesday, after the court chose to dismiss the tech giant’s appeal against the US$2.8 billion antitrust decision. The ruling was made on the occasion of cracking down on the power of large technology companies.
In 2017, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming that the company had used its comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over its smaller competitors.
Reuters reported that this precedent could soon cause Google to lose two other antitrust appeals.
One of these concerns revolves around company policy Require smartphone manufacturers to bundle the company’s apps even if they only want a few, and prevent them from selling devices with a modified version of Google’s Android operating system.this Other cases Alleged that Google had restrictive clauses in its contract with the company that uses AdSense, its advertising service I Said the purpose is to shut out competitors.
After winning, the EU issued the following statement and expressed its intention to continue to monitor the upcoming appeals.
Nicholas Cam/AFP Photo via Getty Images
The committee said in a statement: “The committee will continue to use all the tools at its disposal to address the role of large digital platforms that rely on access to end users and access to digital services by enterprises and users, respectively.”
In addition to Google’s upcoming case, Reuters reported that this ruling may have an impact on antitrust cases filed against other US technology giants.Vestag is continuing the investigation Amazon, Apple with Facebook.
Vestag launched an investigation into Amazon, investigating Amazon’s potential preferential treatment for its own products, rather than vendors selling products on its website. Reuters reported that the company was “conducting preliminary discussions” with the commissioner and making concessions.
In Apple’s case, Vestager tried to find out whether the company’s rules for app developers to distribute apps in the Apple App Store violated EU competition rules. Similarly, for Facebook, Vestager is investigating whether the company uses data collected from advertisers to improve its Marketplace, giving it an unfair advantage over competitors.
“With power, with strength, there is responsibility, part of which is, for example, when your service [are] In the competition with other services,” Vestag said when he appeared on CNBC. “The fines only serve to punish past illegal acts. The second part is of course [they] What to stop [they’re] This is done because it is illegal. “
