The European Commission fined Alphabet, the American company that owns Google, €2.95 billion for abusing its dominant position in the advertising technology market. This was reported by the international media.
The commission explained that Google put pressure on advertisers and online publishers by prioritizing its services over competitors. Thus, it was noted that the company violated the competitive environment. The European Commission decided that Google must abandon such practices and stop giving artificial advantages to its services.
Google expressed its intention to appeal this decision. The company's Vice President for Regulatory Affairs, Lee-Ann Malholand, stated that the European Commission's decision "could be detrimental to thousands of European companies, making it difficult for them to generate income."
Bloomberg notes that this decision was made at a time when trade relations between the European Union and the United States of America have become strained. Donald Trump has repeatedly condemned the EU's policy against large technology companies and assessed the laws adopted by Europe as documents "aimed at restricting American business."
Trump didn't hide his attitude this time either. He threatened to initiate an investigation under Article 301 of US law in response to the European Commission's decision. This article grants the president the right to take unilateral action against "unfair" actions of other states against American businesses.
"Europe has struck another great company in America today - Google. He was fined $3.5 billion. These funds were supposed to be spent on investment and jobs in the US," Trump wrote.
As a reminder, Google has been held accountable by the European Commission several times before. In 2017, the company paid a fine of 2.4 billion euros for illegally using its dominant position in the market. In 2018, fines totaling another 4.3 billion euros were imposed for violations of antitrust law.
Thus, the confrontation between Europe and America around large technology companies is likely to intensify.
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