Diciamo che in questo l'Europa è la soluzione mentre i governi nazionali ( vedi Irlanda ,Lussemburgo,Olanda ) sono il problema.
"Brussels has hit Google with a €2.42bn antitrust fine for abusing its dominance in search, a decision with potentially far-reaching implications for both the tech sector and already strained transatlantic relations.
The European Commission ended its seven-year competition investigation on Tuesday, concluding that the search giant abused its near-monopoly in online search to “give illegal advantage” to its own Shopping service.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner, said Google “denied other companies the chance to compete” and left consumers without “genuine choice.
She added:
Google’s strategy for its comparison shopping service wasn’t just about attracting customers by making its product better than those of its rivals. Instead, Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results, and demoting those of competitors. What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules.
The company has 90 days to stop its illegal conduct and “refrain from any measure that has the same or an equivalent object or effect”. “The decision orders Google to comply with the simple principle of giving equal treatment to rival comparison shopping services and its own service,” the Commission statement said.
The Google probe is one of the most complex and politically charged ever undertaken by Brussels. Although the ruling orders Google to cease the anti-competitive practices, the precise changes required are expected to take months or even years to negotiate. Google can be hit with further non-compliance fines.
This Commission decision is the first time a major competition regulator has sanctioned the way Google operates and lays the foundations for cases about the company’s behaviour in other specialist search markets.
Kent Walker, Google senior vice president and general counsel, said:
When you shop online, you want to find the products you’re looking for quickly and easily. And advertisers want to promote those same products. That’s why Google shows shopping ads, connecting our users with thousands of advertisers, large and small, in ways that are useful for both. We respectfully disagree with the conclusions announced today. We will review the Commission’s decision in detail as we consider an appeal, and we look forward to continuing to make our case. "
Hobi