The European Union hit Google with a second large fine. The new US$5 billion penalty is almost double the US$2.8 billion punishment Google received last year. This time around it wasn’t for antitrust practices related to search as was the case in 2017. Android was at the center of this antitrust investigation, reported Bloomberg.
Not only does Google have to pay the fine, but it will also have to alter its Android distribution contracts with Android vendors and carriers to avoid future fines. Google, threatening that Android might not remain free after the ruling, said it will appeal the decision.
A new report reveals that Google secretly attempted to settle the case, but it was too late for any settlement talks, according to the EU.
According to Bloomberg, which talked to the EU’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, Google’s settlement proposals came in the weeks after the June 2017 fine in the Google Search case.
Google waited at least a year too long to open settlement talks. Vestager said the company would have had to “reach out immediately after” getting the EU’s initial complaint or statement of objections.
“That didn’t happen in this case, and then, of course, it takes the route that it has now taken,” Vestager said. “So no surprises.”
Full Content: Bloomberg
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