European Union Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager coolly hit Google with a €4.3 billion ($5 billion) fine last week, the biggest penalty in the history of antitrust enforcement.
It didn’t have to be that way.
A year earlier, when the company — already reeling from a €2.4 billion fine in another EU case — made quiet attempts to settle the probe into deals it has with Android phone makers, the response was equally chilly.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-22/the-story-behind-google-s-secret-offer-to-settle-android-probe