The European Commission has just announced another antitrust fine for Google . The latest fine — $1.49BN — relates to its search ad brokering business which competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager noted today is “by far” the company’s main source of revenue. “Today’s decision is about how Google abused its domiance to stop website’s using brokers […]
View More Google fined $1.49BN in Europe for antitrust violations in search ad brokeringCategory: Margrethe Vestager
Ahead of third antitrust ruling, Google announces fresh tweaks to Android in Europe
Google is widely expected to be handed a third antitrust fine in Europe this week, with reports suggesting the European Commission’s decision in its long-running investigation of AdSense could land later today. Right on cue the search giant has PRed another Android product tweak — which it bills as “supporting choice and competition in Europe”. […]
View More Ahead of third antitrust ruling, Google announces fresh tweaks to Android in EuropeAhead of third antitrust ruling, Google announces fresh tweaks to Android in Europe
Google is widely expected to be handed a third antitrust fine in Europe this week, with reports suggesting the European Commission’s decision in its long-running investigation of AdSense could land later today. Right on cue the search giant has PRed another Android product tweak — which it bills as “supporting choice and competition in Europe”. […]
View More Ahead of third antitrust ruling, Google announces fresh tweaks to Android in EuropeDon’t break up big tech — regulate data access, says EU antitrust chief
Breaking up tech giants should be a measure of last resort, the European Union’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, has suggested. “To break up a company, to break up private property would be very far reaching and you would need to have a very strong case that it would produce better results for consumers in the […]
View More Don’t break up big tech — regulate data access, says EU antitrust chiefEurope agrees platform rules to tackle unfair business practices
The European Union’s political institutions have reached agreement over new rules designed to boost transparency around online platform businesses and curb unfair practices to support traders and other businesses that rely on digital intermediaries for discovery and sales. The European Commission proposed a regulation for fairness and transparency in online platform trading last April. And late yesterday […]
View More Europe agrees platform rules to tackle unfair business practicesIs Europe closing in on an antitrust fix for surveillance technologists?
The German Federal Cartel Office’s decision to order Facebook to change how it processes users’ personal data this week is a sign the antitrust tide could at last be turning against platform power. One European Commission source we spoke to, who was commenting in a personal capacity, described it as “clearly pioneering” and “a big deal”, […]
View More Is Europe closing in on an antitrust fix for surveillance technologists?Google files appeal against Europe’s $5BN antitrust fine for Android
Google has lodged its legal appeal against the European Commission’s €4.34 billion (~$5BN) antitrust ruling against its Android mobile OS, according to Reuters — the first step in a process that could keep its lawyers busy for years to come. “We have now filed our appeal of the EC’s Android decision at the General Court of the […]
View More Google files appeal against Europe’s $5BN antitrust fine for AndroidEurope is drawing fresh battle lines around the ethics of big data
It’s been just over four months since Europe’s tough new privacy framework came into force. You might believe that little of substance has changed for big tech’s data-hungry smooth operators since then — beyond firing out a wave of privacy policy update spam, and putting up a fresh cluster of consent pop-ups that are just […]
View More Europe is drawing fresh battle lines around the ethics of big dataEU antitrust regulator eyeing Amazon’s use of merchant data
The European Union’s competition commission is looking into how Amazon uses data from retailers selling via its ecommerce marketplace, Reuters reports. Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager revealed the action today during a press conference. “We are gathering information on the issue and we have sent quite a number of questionnaires to market participants in order to […]
View More EU antitrust regulator eyeing Amazon’s use of merchant dataApple has finished paying $15 billion European fine
Apple has finished wiring billions of euros to pay back illegal tax benefits to the Irish government according to Reuters. Overall, Apple has paid $15.3 billion (€13.1 billion) for the original fine as well as $1.4 billion (€1.2 billion) in interests. In August 2016 the European Commission ruled that Apple benefited from illegal tax benefits […]
View More Apple has finished paying $15 billion European fineApple’s Shazam acquisition cleared by EU regulators
European regulators have given the green light to Apple’s December 2017 acquisition of music and image recognition discovery firm Shazam. Apple Music is the second largest music streaming service in Europe, after Spotify . While Shazam offers what has been described as “a leading music recognition app” in the region (and globally). TechCrunch broke the […]
View More Apple’s Shazam acquisition cleared by EU regulatorsEU fines Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer $130M for online price fixing
The European Union’s antitrust authorities have issued a series of penalties, fining consumer electronics companies Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer more than €110 million (~$130M) in four separate decisions for imposing fixed or minimum resale prices on their online retailers in breach of EU competition rules. It says the four companies engaged in so called […]
View More EU fines Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer $130M for online price fixing