Google might have changed its name to Alphabet, but the stand-off it has with the European Union’s Antitrust Commission won’t go away.
In an extensive interview for The Wall Street Journal, European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager explains she still has the company in her sights.
"The important thing is that people can understand what is going on. The Google case is about misuse of a dominant position, to promote yourself in a neighboring market not on your merits but because you can. And no matter the course of the case, there should be a takeaway which can be understood", she says.
The Commission has a few ongoing cases against Google. One is the comparison shopping case where, after a couple of complaints, charges have been filed against Google, accusing it of illegally favoring its own Google Shopping service over the rivals in the search results.
Another case is the Android -- which Vestager opened herself. The case argues that Android should not come bundled with proprietary Google services for mapping, search, and others.
The Advertising case sees the Commission investigating the effect of exclusivity deals with publishers, and restrictions in Google’s standard contracts preventing advertisers from moving their online campaigns to rival platforms.
There’s also an investigation on Google scraping copyright information from other websites.
Google still has a long way to go before it brings closure to all the cases it has with the European Union’s Antitrust Commission. Looking at the Wall Street Journal interview, it’s safe to assume that we’re looking at a long, long wait.
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