European Union Prepares Big Fine for Google
JAKARTA - The European Union is preparing large fines against Google for alleged violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), while the investigation into the US technology giant has entered its final stage, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported, citing a number of sources at the European Commission.
The amount of the fine has not been officially announced, according to the report, Tuesday, May 26, reported by ANTARA from Sputnik/RIA Novosti-OANA.
It is stated that the number of sanctions is calculated based on the company's turnover. According to the newspaper, EU officials want to impose fines of several hundred million euros.
Last year, Google recorded record revenue of around 400 billion US dollars (Rp7.115 trillion).
The European Commission has the authority to impose fines of up to 10 percent of a company's total global annual turnover. However, according to the source, the amount of the fine against Google is expected to be much lower than the maximum limit because the company has made a number of concessions.
Brussels accused Google and its parent company, Alphabet, of promoting their own services in search results to the detriment of competitors.
Specifically, the complaint relates to the appearance of the Google Flights and AI Overview services, namely a summary of the search results based on artificial intelligence produced by the Gemini system.
After the demands from the European Union, the company began to display competitor services in a more prominent position. However, the European Commission considers that the concessions are still inadequate, especially regarding the AI Overview service.
Brussels judged that Google was using its dominant position as a search engine to promote its own artificial intelligence products, thus disrupting business competition, the newspaper wrote.
On the other hand, Google said it was willing to cooperate with regulators, but considered many of the demands to be counterproductive. The company assessed that the changes it had made had actually worsened the user experience in Europe.
The newspaper also said the possible fine could increase tensions in relations between the European Union and the United States.
US President Donald Trump previously criticized the EU sanctions against American technology companies and called them a form of trade barriers.
The DMA came into force in the EU to limit the dominance of the largest digital platforms and establish special obligations for companies that have a dominant position in the market.