Europe to Pull Trigger on Google Antitrust Charges - facing fines of over $6 billion
Europe to Pull Trigger on Google Antitrust Charges
Case would be EU’s biggest competition battle since
pursuit of Microsoft a decade ago
By Valentina Pop And Tom Fairless
Updated April 14, 2015 7:34 p.m. ET
BRUSSELS—Europe’s antitrust regulator plans to file
formal charges against Google Inc. for
violating antitrust laws, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday,
stepping up a five-year investigation likely to become the biggest competition
battle here since the European Union’s pursuit of Microsoft Corp. a decade ago.
EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager made the decision
Tuesday in agreement with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker,
this person said. She is expected to inform her fellow EU commissioners at a
meeting Wednesday, said three EU officials.
The European charges will focus on complaints that Google
uses its dominant Internet search engine to favor its own services over those
of rivals, people familiar with the situation said. Rivals say Google search
results in areas like travel, shopping and maps increasingly favor Google’s own
offerings, rather than links to similar online services run by rivals.
A Google spokesman didn’t respond to requests for comment
Tuesday. In the past, Google has denied breaking antitrust laws and argues that
consumers benefit from more direct answers to online queries, including from
its own services.
The charges would be “very bad news” for Google, said
Ioannis Lianos, a professor of global competition law at University College
London.
The move opens the possibility of Google facing fines of
over $6 billion. Google also could face injunctions that require modifying
contracts, Mr. Lianos said. Checks on its behavior could extend beyond search
into related markets, which would “really put a squeeze on how they can run
their business,” he said.
The European Commission has highlighted four main areas
of concern in its investigation: potential bias in Google’s search results,
scraping content from rival websites, agreements with advertisers that may
exclude rival search-advertising services and contracts that limit marketers
from using other platforms.
The EU has also been running a second line of inquiry
into Google’s business practices relating to its Android mobile-operating
system. According to another person familiar with the investigation, the
commission is also planning to turn this into a formal investigation.
Search bias has been central to the probe because Google
controls over 90% of Europe’s general search market.
“If you are dominant in Europe, you are not allowed to
tie and bundle your other services to that dominant business to the detriment
of your competitors,” said Michael Weber, a director at online mapping company
Hot-Map.com, which has complained to the EU about Google’s practices. “But
that’s exactly what Google’s doing.”
News Corp, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, on
Tuesday filed a formal complaint with the commission regarding Google’s
competition practices, a spokesman said. He declined to disclose further
details.
After the EU complaint is issued, Google would have about
three months to respond, and could request a hearing to better explain its case
to the commission. If the EU then decided to press ahead, a final decision
could be expected by the end of the year, Mr. Lianos said.
Google could then appeal to the EU’s appeals courts in
Luxembourg, a process that could take years. The courts in Luxembourg have
traditionally been sympathetic to the commission.
The EU also could impose injunctions requiring Google to
stop any behavior deemed anticompetitive.
—Alistair Barr contributed to this article.
Write to Valentina Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com and Tom
Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com
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