European authorities on Wednesday fined Google 1.5 billion euros for antitrust violations in the online advertising market, continuing its efforts to rein in the world’s biggest technology companies.
The fine, worth about $1.7 billion, is the third against Google by the European Union since 2017, reinforcing the region’s position as the world’s most aggressive watchdog of an industry with an increasingly powerful role in society and the global economy. The regulators said Google had violated antitrust rules by imposing unfair terms on companies that used its search bar on their websites in Europe.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/business/google-fine-advertising.html
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Google fined €1.49bn by EU for advertising violations
Google has been fined €1.5bn (£1.3bn) by the EU for abusing its monopoly in online advertising, bringing the total cost of punishments imposed on the search giant by Brussels to €8.2bn over two years.
The latest ruling means that since 2017 the EU has found Google abused its power in shopping comparison services, its Android mobile phone operating system and now search adverts.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/20/google-fined-149bn-by-eu-for-advertising-violations
Google says it is complying with EU antitrust orders
Google has made and will make a number of changes to address EU antitrust regulators’ concerns that it unfairly promoted its shopping service and hindered rivals of its Android smartphone operating system, a senior executive said on Wednesday.
“We’ve always agreed that healthy, thriving markets are in everyone’s interest. We’ve already made a wide range of changes to our products to address the Commission’s concerns,” Kent Walker, senior vice-president of global affairs, said in a statement.
https://in.reuters.com/article/eu-google-antitrust-reaction/google-says-it-is-complying-with-eu-antitrust-orders-idINKCN1R11I4
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eu-google-antitrust-reaction/google-says-it-is-complying-with-eu-antitrust-orders-idUKKCN1R11D8
EU's Vestager says Google rivals more visible after changes
Europe's antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager gave a cautious welcome on Wednesday to Google's attempts to boost rivals and offer Android users a choice of browser and search apps in order to comply with her orders in two separate cases.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eu-google-antitrust-vestager/eus-vestager-says-google-rivals-more-visible-after-changes-idUKKCN1R11BP
EU lawmakers to vote on copyright overhaul next Tuesday
EU lawmakers will vote next Tuesday on whether to endorse an overhaul of the bloc's two-decade old copyright rules as Google and internet activists stepped up their criticism of a requirement to install copyright filters.
https://in.reuters.com/article/eu-copyright/eu-lawmakers-to-vote-on-copyright-overhaul-next-tuesday-idINKCN1R228O
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eu-copyright/eu-lawmakers-to-vote-on-copyright-overhaul-next-tuesday-idUKKCN1R228Z