EU antitrust regulators fine Google record US$5 billion
- 6 years ago
The European Commission has fined Google five billion U.S. dollars for anti-trust violations - the biggest fine given by European anti-trust regulators against a single firm.
The commission said Wednesday that the tech giant had illegally abused the dominance of its mobile operating system, Android, by forcing phone manufacturers to exclusively pre-install its services, such as Google Search and Google Maps.
Phone makers that refused were reportedly blocked access to Google's Play app store.
The EC gave Google's parent company, Alphabet, 90 days to stop such practices or face further penalties.
Alphabet has enough cash to easily pay off the five-billion-dollar fine, but the firm says it will still appeal the ruling.
The commission said Wednesday that the tech giant had illegally abused the dominance of its mobile operating system, Android, by forcing phone manufacturers to exclusively pre-install its services, such as Google Search and Google Maps.
Phone makers that refused were reportedly blocked access to Google's Play app store.
The EC gave Google's parent company, Alphabet, 90 days to stop such practices or face further penalties.
Alphabet has enough cash to easily pay off the five-billion-dollar fine, but the firm says it will still appeal the ruling.