Now it's official: the European Commission initiated proceedings on allegations of abuse of dominant position against Google. Also targeted by the Antitrust, which sent Google "a communication of charges on comparison shopping services", also ended up Android, on which the Authority has opened a formal investigation.
THEaccusation against Google, explained competition manager Margrethe Vestager, is to systematically favor your product for comparison shopping on the general pages showing search results. A behavior which, according to the Commission, would violate antitrust rules and harm competition and consumers.
The investigations into the US giant lasted five years, during which the Commission attempted conciliation with Google on three different occasions, each time failing. Among the applicants, the German virtual community Ciao, the British Foudem and the companies united in the Open Internet Project (which includes, among others, the global publisher Springer) stand out.
At the same time, the Antitrust has formally opened a separate investigation into Google's behavior with regard to the mobile operating system Android. Also in this case the objective of the investigation is to establish whether the Mountain View giant has violated competition and abused its dominant position also in the field of operating services, applications and services for smartphones.
From the start of the procedure - which takes place with a "letter of objections" - Google would have 10 weeks to defend itself against the allegations. The risk, for Mountain View, is that of a fine of up to 10% of global turnover.
