Google could face breakup in EU
27 Mar 2018
Google faces the possibility of a breakup in Europe in a bid by anti-trust authorities to prevent it “from becoming too large to challenge.”
Margrethe Vestager, the European Competition Commissioner, told Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper that it is important to keep that question open and on the agenda. “We are not there yet, but it is important to keep an awakened eye,” she said. “We have proven Google's dominance in search, and we have found they have misused this dominance to promote themselves and diminish competitors.”The EU is considering the possibility of breaking up Google into smaller units to protect competition. According to estimates, Google dominates internet search in Europe, accounting for more than 90 per cent of the search segment.
According to the EU Competition Commissioner, Google is shutting out competition with its dominance. Vestager had last year slapped a nearly $3-billion fine on Google for favouring its services in search results over those of its competitors. She is also probing Google’s mobile platform and advertising services.
Asked about charges that she had a bias against American tech giants, Vestager said there was no ban on success in Europe. “You get to be dominant and you get a special responsibility that you don’t destroy the already weakened competition,” she said. “We have proven their dominance in search and we have found they have misused this dominance to promote themselves and diminish competitors.”