Google Likely To Pay Hefty Fine in July
- The search engine giant, Google is expected to pay up to $11 billion in fines over Android case. The decision could be finalized as soon as next month.
- Last time, the company was charged $2.8 billion as Google favored its shopping service unfairly.
- This would be a significant blow for Google who has repeatedly denied the claims of wrongdoings.
According to Financial Times, it is believed that things are not going as planned for Google. The search engine giant is preparing itself to pay a hefty fine in July that could be as high as $11 billion. The fine is higher than the last time, $2.8 billion, the company was charged by the EU authorities.
Earlier in 2016, Brussels accused Google of abusing its Android mobile operating system by penetrating it far and wide to maintain its dominance in the Internet search fraternity. All Android smartphone manufacturers are forced to pre-install the search behemoth browser and other products if they wished to access Google’s online app store and mobile apps. Moreover, Google has also been charged to provide financial incentives to manufacturers in order to pre-install its search and other products.
As per EU officials, Google has created a biased environment, manipulated innovation and has also stifled consumer choice.
A hefty fine is likely to cause massive damage to the tech giant. In 2017, a penalty of $2.8 billion penalties didn’t affect them much. However, Android has a strong dominance in EU’s smartphone share. Therefore, a hit can have major repercussions in terms of the company’s growth as more and more people are switching to mobile phones for their Internet needs. This isn’t it, Google also has other legal disputes to settle.
The EU antitrust czar, Margrethe Vestager, said in a statement, “A competitive mobile internet sector is increasingly important for consumers and businesses in Europe. We believe that Google’s behavior denies consumers a wider choice of mobile apps and services and stands in the way of innovation by other players, in breach of EU antitrust rules.”