The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that The European Commission (EC) is expanding its antitrust probe of Google. Currently, the EC is in the late stages of its vertical search inquiry and has filed formal charges, which Google has until August 31 to rebut. It’s at an earlier stage of investigating Google’s management of the Android operating system.
According to the Journal report, the EC is now investigating whether Google “abuses its dominance in advertising contracts with website operators and copies content from rival sites.” The first question goes to whether Google prevents online publishers from using rival advertising systems on their sites.
This was initially investigated in Europe in 2010. The issue is now being exhumed amid a growing sense of Google’s vulnerability.
Full content: The Wall Street Journal
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