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The European Union (EU) is fining Google 2.42 billion ($2.73 billion) for abusing its dominant position in the search engine market to promote its own comparison shopping service. The penalty is more than twice the 1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) fine that had been expected. It also dwarfs the largest monopoly fine to date, a 1.06 billion ($1.9 billion) fine against Intel in 2008.

The company has also been ordered to cease its behavior with regard to its comparison shopping service within 90 days or face additional fines of up to five percent of parent company Alphabets worldwide daily revenues. The decision comes as the result of a multiyear investigation into the companys business practices in the European market.

With Market Dominance Comes Special Responsibility

According to the European Commission (EC), the executive arm of the EU, Google systematically gave prominent placement to its own comparison shopping service over the results of competitors. The service, launched in 2008 in European markets, relied on Googles dominance in the Internet search market to make up for its weakness among competing comparison shopping services.

The EC also found Google guilty of demoting its rivals in its search results. According to the commission, the company included a number of criteria in its search algorithms specifically designed to demote its rivals.

"Evidence shows that even the most highly ranked rival service appears on average only on page four of Google's search results, and others appear even further down," the EC stated in a statement. "Google's own comparison shopping service is not subject to Google's generic search algorithms, including such demotions."

As a result, Google's service was given much more visibility on its search results relative to its competitors. The commission found this preferential behavior gave Google a significant advantage relative to its rivals, a breach of EU antitrust rules. While market dominance is not illegal under EU antitrust laws, companies that are found to have a dominant position are subject to a "special responsibility" not to abuse their positions to stifle competition.

A Sign of Things To Come

As a result of the ruling, Google will now be forced to give equal treatment to its rivals as well as its own comparison shopping service within its search results. For its part, Google has said it disagrees with the commission's finding and is considering appealing the case.

The decision may also represent a sign of things to come on future rulings. The EU has two other investigations currently open into Google's business practices in other services: one involving its Android operating system and another concerning its AdSense service. In both cases, the commission has already reached a preliminary finding that Google has abused its dominant position to give itself an illegal advantage over its competitors.

The ruling also opens the possibility of further legal action against Google by competitors claiming to have been injured by the Internet giant's business practices. That could spell tough times ahead for the company, at least when it comes to its EU businesses.

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European Union Fines Google a Whopping $2.73 Billion for Abuse - CIO Today

June 26, 2017 2:51 PM

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BRUSSELS (CBSMiami/AP) Top trade officials with the European Union say the bloc is preparing retaliatory measures if the United States imposes steel tariffs on imports.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said the bloc was making preparations to retaliate in the event the U.S. introduces new tariffs.

Malmstroem said Monday that the EU would study any action by Washington to see whether the move complies with the rules of the World Trade Association, the body that oversees global trade.

She added that the indications are that the EU would be unjustifiably hit.

One reason why Donald Trump became president was his promise to revive American steel. That helped him win states like Pennsylvania.

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European Union Weighs Retaliation If US Imposes Steel Tariffs - CBS Miami

The Googleplex is the corporate headquarters complex of Google, located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, Calif.(Photo: Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY)

Alphabet-owned Google could face a fine of more than $1 billion from the European Union for allegedly restricting competition through its massive search service.

The EU could hand down the $1.2 billion fine as early as Tuesday for favoring its own comparison shopping service in search results,according to The Wall Street Journal.

Along with the fine, the EU will ask Google to give rival shopping services equal treatment in search results, says the report.

"We continue to engage constructively with the European Commission and we believe strongly that our innovations in online shopping have been good for shoppers, retailers and competition," said Google in a statement.

A spokesperson for the EU declined comment.

The dispute is among several the EU has generated against Google over potential antitrust practices. In 2016, the EU accused Google of requiring phone makers to install its search engine and web browser on mobile devices, as well as pay carriers or phone makers to make Google search the default option.

Shares of Google parent Alphabet were down nearly 1%.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

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The European Union could slap Google with a big fine this week - USA TODAY

June 26th, 2017 by Joshua S Hill

All heads of the European Union, from EU Member States through to the EU Presidents of the Council and Commission, last week reaffirmed their strong commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, and their desire to swiftly and fully implement the goals therein.

At a European Council meeting held on the 22nd and 23rd of June, European Union leaders vowed to continue leading the fight against climate changeand reaffirming the importance of the Paris Climate Agreement as the cornerstone of the fight. The EU leaders also made it clear that the Paris Climate Agreement cannot be renegotiated a not-so-subtle shot across the bow of the United States Trump Administration, which, during the Presidents speech announcing that he would withdraw the country from the Agreement, promised that he would try to renegotiate the deal so it was fairer to the United States, showing once again that Donald Trump hasnt a clue how international policy and treaties actually work.

The European Union made several strong commitments to back up their affirmation of the Paris Climate Agreement, including reaffirming their commitment to fulfilling international climate finance goals, and stepping up cooperation with international partners most notably, those countries which are deemed most vulnerable to climate change. The European Union also committed to continuing work with non-state actors.

The European Council strongly reaffirms the commitment of the EU and its Member States to swiftly and fully implement theParis Agreement, to contribute to the fulfilment of the climate finance goals, and to continue to lead in the fight against climatechange. The Agreement remains a cornerstone of global efforts to effectively tackle climate change, and cannot be renegotiated.

Following the United States woeful and ignorant decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, countless organizations, non-state actors, and countries from around the world have condemned the move, while simultaneously committing to the tenants of the Agreement. While the move unsurprisingly drew harsh criticism from many countries around the world, what was surprising or, if not surprising, at least heartening was the widespread condemnation of President Trumps decision from within his own country (which we covered extensively here and here).

Backing up on their own condemnation, California Governor Jerry Brown found himself in China, ready to make planned commitments with the Chinese government and various states to further cooperation and their commitment to fighting climate change. Upon his return home, Governor Brown then followed that up with signing a commitment to fight climate change in cooperation with Germany.

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Tags: California, China, EU, European Union, Germany, Paris, Paris climate accords, Paris climate agreement

Joshua S Hill I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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European Union Leaders Reaffirm Strong Commitment To Paris Climate Agreement - CleanTechnica

LONDON (AP) British Prime Minister Theresa May tried Monday to reassure European Union citizens living in Britain that their lives and those of their family will not be disrupted when Britain leaves the EU in 2019.

She told Parliament that steps will be taken to make sure the split with the EU is handled with care with regard to the estimated 3 million EU citizens living inside Britain. She said Britain wants them to stay after Brexit.

No families will be split up, she said, adding that family dependants who move to Britain to join an EU citizen living here would be able to apply for settled status after five years.

That will be the term used for EU citizens who meet the five-year rule. May says they will be entitled to full U.K. health and pension benefits.

After the U.K. has left the European Union, EU citizens with settled status will be able to bring family members from overseas on the same terms as British nationals, she said.

She said her plans mean that no one from the EU who is now in Britain lawfully will be made to leave when Brexit happens.

The prime minister said this offer will be dependent on British citizens in the 27 other EU countries receiving the same treatment from those countries.

Our offer will give those 3 million EU citizens in the U.K. certainty about the future of their lives and a reciprocal agreement will provide the same certainty for the more than 1 million citizens living in the European Union, she said.

May was elaborating on proposals made last week during a summit of EU leaders. She said she wants to resolve the issue early in the two-year Brexit negotiations to ease anxiety for EU citizens living in Britain.

EU officials had said the proposals were a reasonable first step but fell short of expectations.

After Mondays announcement, the EUs chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, tweeted that there was still more ambition, clarity and guarantees needed.

Many details have not yet been worked out and further negotiations are expected.

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Theresa May details post-Brexit plans for EU citizens in UK - The Seattle Times