The rumors are indeed true. The European Commission (EC) has leveled charges against Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Apparently Google has misused its hegemony by giving preference to its comparison shopping product on search pages. The Commission has dispatched a Statement of Objections. The latter put forward the stance that the firm’s conduct has undermined EU antitrust laws by suppressing competition and hurting consumers.
However just sending a statement does not necessarily mean the investigation is all but over. The body has also launched a separate antitrust investigation into Android Operating System software. That involves determining whether the firm had anti-competitive agreements or misused its dominant status.
The EC seeks to make sure that firms operating in Europe irrespective of where they are based firms do not artificially limit consumer choice or discourage innovation.
Google reacts
There was an internal Google memo recently on this issue. Apparently the Android investigation was not a surprise to Google and only to be expected. The firm recalled an EC inquiry into Apple’s iTunes in the recent past which revealed nothing illegal. It is their line of thinking and hope on the Android investigation as well.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) argued that sectors dominated by a single player did not experience a huge quantity of innovation, significant investment or new players. And that is what is precisely happening in the shopping space. Also, Google has not engaged in any activity, which could hurt the competition.
The market scenario
The company gave examples of Amazon and eBay, which are huge shopping sites as part of the current and extensive competition. Zalando, the German shopping site and a new entrant, went public last year in one of the biggest ever tech IPOs. Companies such as Facebook, Pinterest and Amazon have been heavily investing in their search services and search engines such as Quixey, DuckDuckGo and Qwant have drawn fresh funding. There is tremendous innovation seen in voice search and the rise of search assistants. All these are developments buttressing Google’s case.
