(MENAFN) Google was fined 1.49 billion euros for blocking rival online search advertisers, marking the third large European Union antitrust penalty for the Alphabet business in two years.
The European Commission said the fine made up 1.29 percent of the company's 2018 revenue, as the anti-competitive practices had lasted a decade.
European Competition Commissioner said: "Google has cemented its dominance in online search adverts and shielded itself from competitive pressure by imposing anti-competitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites."
The misconduct included stopping publishers from putting any search adverts from competitors on their search results pages, forcing them to reserve the most profitable space on their search results pages for Google's adverts and a requirement to seek written approval from it before making changes to the way in which any rival adverts were displayed.
MENAFN2103201900450000ID1098285896
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.