Google Hit with Record EU fine over 'unfair' Shopping Searches

Google has been slapped with a record-breaking EUR 2.4 billion fine by European regulators  for abusing its dominant position in the fiercely competitive and rapidly expanding world of online shopping, NOVA TV, reported. 

The European Commission said that the search engine has 90 days to end the misconduct. If it does not, it faces penalty payments of up to 5% of the average daily worldwide turnover of Alphabet, which is Google's parent company.

"Google's strategy for its comparison shopping service wasn't just about attracting customers by making its product better than those of its rivals,” said commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of competition policy.

For years EU authorities have been crafting their case against Google, claiming the search engine giant favours its own search results over those of other websites.

Google has consistently denied wrongdoing and Tuesday’s ruling will deal a sharp blow to the group, especially because online shopping searches are one of the company’s most important sources of sales growth as it takes on rivals as diverse as Facebook and Amazon. 

It also indicates that the EU is cracking down on misconduct and will send a message of zero tolerance to other players. It's the biggest fine ever handed to a single company in an EU anti trust case, beating a nearly EUR 1.1 billion penalty that US chipmaker Intel was forced to pay back in 2009. 

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