Summary Under 100 Words: On Wednesday, Google was fined $5B by the European Commission for misusing it’s power in the mobile phone market and was ordered to change their norms. The decision of the European Commissionision has been one of the most aggressive actions against such a giant company. Google has been asked to stop integrating their own applications with Android OS within 90 days or it may get even worse for Google.
Main Story: Google Fined $5B by the European Commission
As mentioned, on Wednesday Google was fined $5B by the European Commission. The European Antitrust Union fine was approximately the twice of the bloc’s fine on Google last year. The fine shows how Europe is taking such bold steps against big tech firms. After this fine Google may lose their grip over the Android software which is used in almost 80% of smartphones in the world. The orders given by European Union may implement under a time period of 90 days. The orders may also result in more competition against Google in the Market.
“Google has used Android as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine,” said Margrethe Vestager, European Antitrust chief. “These practices have denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits. They have denied European consumers the benefits of effective competition in the important mobile sphere.”
The amount of fine, she added, “shows the seriousness and the sustained move” of Google’s actions. Google said the judgment would likely to go on for years. If Google loses the appeal, the money will be divided among them.
If Google is unable to change it’s smartphone practices or actions in 90 days, they would have faced the fine of up to 5% of the daily revenue of its parent company, Alphabet. Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive officer said on Twitter that “rapid innovation, wide choice, and falling prices are classic hallmarks of robust competition.”
The seriousness and aggressive decision against Google shows how Europe is taking such strict actions against American Tech companies in the sectors like security, privacy and antitrust. European regulators ordered that Google must allow other mobile phone manufacturers to develop their own versions of Android software. Google has already discouraged other rising competitors based on Android by blocking them.
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