It looks like the European Union has Google in its crosshairs once again and is poised to slap the search giant with a record fine of around 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion U.S.) in the coming weeks, reports indicate.
The EU argues Google has promoted its shopping service in Internet searches at the expense of rival services - an accusation that has been present since late 2010 and Google was formally charged with in April 2015.
News of the fine was first reported by The Telegraph, though it notes that the figure hadn't been decided quite yet. It should be noted, however, that the decision by EU officials to fine Google goes far beyond a simple fine, which can amount to up to 10 of its annual sales.
"The starting point for the fine is the percentage of the company's annual sales of the product concerned in the infringement (up to 30 percent)," says the European Commission in an antitrust fact sheet. "This is then multiplied by the number of years and months the infringement lasted. The fine can be increased (e.g. repeat offender) or decreased (e.g. limited involvement). The maximum level of fine is capped at 10 percent of the overall annual turnover of the company."
Google will also be forced to change its business practices in Europe. Specifically, the search giant will be banned from continuing to manipulate search results to favour itself and harm rivals, meaning the firm's annual revenue will likely take a large hit, no matter what fine amount officials decide on.
Whatever that fine turns out to be, reports suggest that it officials plan to announced it as early as next month once the bill has been finalized.
This isn't the first time Google has been targeted by the EU officials. Last month, EC's competition chief, Margarethe Vestager, issued a second Statement of Objections against Google's alleged abuse of dominance with its Andorid OS. Officials argue that Google has taken advantage of its strong position in the market by imposing tough restrictions on Andorid device makers.
The commission can fine up to 10 percent of Google's annual sales, which means it can amount to an excess of more than 6 billion euros. If that comes to pass, it will easily surpass the once-record 1.1 billion antitrust fine that was imposed on chipmaker Intel in 2009.
