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By Spencer Platt / [Getty Images]
As Silicon Valley companies become overwhelmingly dominant, the vast majority of efforts to check their power from US lawmakers or consumers, but from European regulators. A year ago, the European Commission slapped Google with a record-breaking $ 2.7 billion fine for prioritizing its own shopping service over competitors in search results. And on Wednesday, Europe is rising against the mountain view, California-based tech giant, hitting Google with a $ 5 billion fine over an anti-trust case involving its popular Android operating system. In its decision, the Commission set the terms for the Android operating system-which powers roughly 80 percent of smart mobile devices in Europe-were harmful for competition, and evenly illegal.
The Google, Android, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google Android, Google Chrome, Google Chrome, Google Android App. If device-makers did not do this, Google would not let them install the Google Play Store, where Android users buy and install apps and games for their phones. Google's primary source of revenue is Google's primary source of revenue, but its actions are allowed to use Android to dominate search and advertising. "European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said in a Google search engine. statement. "In this way, Google has used Android as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine. These practices have denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits. They have denied European consumers the benefits of effective competition in the important mobile sphere. This is illegal under E.U. anti-trust rules. "
If it does not change its practices in 90 days, it could face additional fines. The company intends to appeal the ruling, according to a blog post C.E.O. Sundar Pichai published Wednesday. "Android has created more choice for everyone, not less," spokesperson told the Hive. "A vibrant ecosystem, rapid innovation, and lower prices are classic hallmarks of robust competition."
As the Big Five-tech companies-Facebook, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple-continues to pursue bigger deals in search of market supremacy , their leaders remain relatively unaccustomed to oversight. As Luther Lowe, Do not hesitate to contact us for more information on this web site. "In the U.S. and Europe, Google has a staggering 98 percent market share of smartphones, including iPhone, where half of all searches have local intent. This allows them to put their thumb on the scale. For example, when a mother searches for a pediatrician in Berlin, instead of being the most relevant information on the Web, such as a native-review service Jameda.de, Google However they concede it has less content and a lower ranking. "
With the EU clawing back against Silicon Valley in a material way, however, which is likely to be undone. Europe has certainly been more adversarial towards tech companies than the United States-just a few months ago, it has been enacted G.D.P.R., an ultra-strict digital-privacy law, with which myriad tech and media companies scrambled to comply. And toward the end of the last year, the company was forced to defend its decision to move trillions of offsets to the island of Jersey, which is outside the USU's jurisdiction, after regulators cracked down on its Irish tax haven. If tech companies, already struggling to remain in conservative 'good graces, tilt the scale too far, U.S. lawmakers may find a ready model to cut them down to size.
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