The American Internet giant Google is expected to be handed a record fine this week by the Commission for abuse of dominant position in two cases.
According to certain information published by the press on Monday 26 June, the European Commission is preparing to hand a heavy fine down to the American company, which is suspected of abuse of dominant position.
Firstly, the company is expected to be fined for favouring its price comparison tool Google Shopping to the detriment of other online comparison tools. The Commission's objections were notified to Google on 15 April 2015 (see EUROPE 11295) in a document in which the institution stated that Google Shopping was systematically favoured in the search engine's general search results.
According to several newspaper sources, the fine could be between €1.1 billion and €2 billion, which is more than the highest fine ever handed down by the Commission for abuse of dominant position. The previous record was for €1.06 billion against the company Intel on 13 May 2009 (see EUROPE 9901).
The second case in which the American giant is also expected to be fined concerns the operating system Android. In its statement of objections dated 20 April 2016 (see EUROPE 11536), the Commission accused Google of placing restrictions on manufacturers of mobile devices and mobile network operators. The American company was suspected of requiring manufacturers and operators to install Google applications so that they could install Google Play Store, its app store for Android, in order to reinforce its position on the market.
Although it is not certain whether the fines will be announced at the same time, a source told us that they were both expected to come within a very short space of time. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)