EU: Google to face antitrust charges

The European Union is set to file formal charges against Google Inc. for allegedly violating the bloc’s antitrust laws, according to people familiar with the charges.

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s competition commissioner, made the decision on Tuesday to file charges against Google that could result in up to $6 billion in fines, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Google is being charged with violating antitrust laws by allegedly siphoning traffics from its competitors to its own search-engine services. Many in the European technology industry claim that Google’s practices have stunted the growth of smaller, home-grown tech companies.

If Google is found guilty it could be forced to make massive changes to the way it conducts business in Europe, in addition to the possibility of fines.

The antitrust charges are the culmination of a five-year EU investigation into the business practices of the internet behemoth. Google nearly succeeding in settling the case without such charges last year, but a settlement fell apart after objections from some EU ministers and the European technology industry.

Full Content: The Wall Street Journal

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