Google is again waiting a billions fine from the EU
While Google is still in appeal on the billionspayment they received from the EU because of the abuse of their dominant position in search results, they already have a new, probably even larger fine the head. This time it’s all about Android where the search giant launches its own apps and services and it apparently forces smartphone manufacturers too much to use the same apps.
According to the Financial Times the fine could amount to ten percent of the total turnover of parent company Alphabet. How much is that maximum?
$ 11 billion
Margrethe Vestager plans to announce the negative results of the study within a few weeks, say people who have a view on the research. Now the maximum sentence is $ 11 billion, but a fine of 4 to 5 billion dollars is more real. Google may well miss that, but such a fine never comes alone. Google will also be asked about changes in how they do business, otherwise there will be more fines.
Google logically completely disagrees with it. They say that they bundle apps like search and browser Chrome with Android to ensure that everyone has a complete package when they buy a phone and that the competition is one download away from Google. They also find it unfair that Apple’s iOS is excluded as a competitor, but EU researchers do not see that as a relevant argument, since Apple ‘s iOS is not licensable for other phone makers, unlike Android .
Microsoft moment
The market share of 80 percent that Android has does not help, of course, so it seems that Google is facing a Microsoft moment, where it has become so big that every small attempt to benefit own apps To give such a heavy difference makes competition in the bud is stifled. That argument got Microsoft back on the knees in the US and allowed new parties to join the search and browser market. Parties such as Google.
Now the roles are reversed and the EU does not intend to give Google the benefit of the doubt. Within a month we will know what the final judgment is and then there is in any case a preliminary conclusion in this lawsuit that has been in the making for two years.