EU fines Google $2.65B for abuse of dominant market position

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The European Court of Justice has imposed a €2.4 billion ($2.65 billion) fine on Google for violating antitrust regulations by preferentially promoting its own comparison shopping service over competitors, the court announced on Tuesday.

According to the court, Google manipulated its general search results pages to highlight its comparison shopping service, displaying it prominently with "attractive image and text information." In contrast, results from rival comparison shopping services were relegated to simple, less visible blue links.

The court noted, "The commission found that Google had given preference to the results of its own comparison shopping service over those of competing services." This approach, the court stated, was a clear abuse of Google's dominant market position.

Despite acknowledging that dominant companies may sometimes favor their own products, the court emphasized that such behavior must be evaluated within the specific context of competition and market practices.