Google was fined 102 million euros for abuse of dominant position due to its Android mobile operating system and its app store Google Play by Italy’s competition watchdog.
Google was also recently fined by France, in December last year. France’s competition authority fined Google 150 million euros ($167 million) for anti-competitive behaviour and for having unclear advertising on the Google Ads page.
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Dominant Position Abuse
The anti-trust authority ordered Google, whose Android operating system and Google Play app store dominate the Italian market, to include in its Android Auto mobile system an Enel X app for users of electric vehicles, finding the US giant had shut its rival out.
France and other European countries maintain high levels of scrutiny on major US tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon, which are often criticised for having relatively low tax payments in the Europe.
Google agreed to pay close to 1 billion euros to French authorities to settle a fiscal fraud probe that began four years ago in September, 2020. Google, which is the world’s biggest internet search engine, has also faced growing regulatory scrutiny about the content it promotes in search results and ads.
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Isabelle de Silva, head of the French competition authority, told news conference that Google’s dominance in the online advertising business was “extraordinary”, with the US company having a market share of around 90% in that field. Google said it would appeal the fine.
