The European Commission has fined Google a mind-boggling $2.7 billion (€2.42 billion) for, well, minding its own business on its own website! According to the Commission, Google violates the antitrust rules of the European Union (EU) by abusing its search-engine dominance to give more prominence to its own comparison shopping service, Google Shopping, over competing services in Google search results.
But what's wrong with that? Why shouldn't Google favor its own products on its own search engine? It’s not like people are forced by Google into using its search engine. There are other search engines and people are free to use them. But most people use Google because it’s fast, user friendly, and gives really useful search results.
Posting on the official Google blog, Google SVP and general counsel Kent Walker said they "respectfully disagree" with the conclusions announced by the Commission. He said the Commission underestimates the value of the fast and easy connections provided by Google. "While some comparison shopping sites naturally want Google to show them more prominently, our data shows that people usually prefer links that take them directly to the products they want, not to websites where they have to repeat their searches," he explained.
Labels: Internet