EU reserves right to break up Google in antitrust investigation
The EU’s antitrust chief has broached the prospect of dismantling Google as the stakes are raised in a battle of wills between the internet giant and Europe.
EU reserves right to break-up Google in antitrust investigation
European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager has fought to retain the right to physically dismantle Google into smaller entities amid ‘grave suspicions’ that its absolute dominance of the online sphere is hindering competition.
Google is already facing up to the imposition of more stringent rules on its commercial agreements with smaller businesses which make use of its services after it was found guilty of favouring its own shopping service over others, incurring a 2.4bn euro fine in the process.
The European Commission is currently working up new regulations aimed at regulating e-commerce sites, app stores and search engines to ensure they become more open in the way that they rank search results and why some listings are de-listed.
In other battles Google has sought to win over publishers by investing $300m in anti-fake news and subscription tools.
Content created with:
Google is committed to helping businesses thrive in a privacy-first world. The technology giant works with thousands of businesses and agencies to help them prepare...
Find out more