Google has been handed a record European Union fine of €4.3 billion (£3.8bn) following a major investigation into the search engine giant.
The fine was confirmed by Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s competition chief, who said the penalty was for three types of illegal restrictions on the use of Android.
Fine of €4,34 bn to @Google for 3 types of illegal restrictions on the use of Android. In this way it has cemented the dominance of its search engine. Denying rivals a chance to innovate and compete on the merits. It’s illegal under EU antitrust rules. @Google now has to stop it
— Margrethe Vestager (@vestager) July 18, 2018
The move ends a 39-month investigation by the European commission’s competition authorities following claims that Google had unfairly strengthened its dominance by making its search engine the default on most Android phones.
The sum is a record for breaking EU antitrust law, and is almost double the €2.4 billion Google was fined last year for using its dominant search engine to build an internet shopping service.
“Google has used Android as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine. These practices have denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits. We have fined Google €4.34 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules.” @vestager https://t.co/ftSJnGQ6rG
— European Commission ???? (@EU_Commission) July 18, 2018
Vestager said Google’s practices have “denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits”.
“They have denied European consumers the benefits of effective competition in the important mobile sphere,” she added. “This is illegal under EU antitrust rules.”
Google plans to appeal the decision.