The European Commission could hit the American technology giant with a big fine【罚款】 this week for abusing its dominant position in online advertising.
European officials allege that Google has “artificially reduced choice and stifled【抑制】 innovation” by imposing restrictions on how websites show ads from rival firms.
In theory Google could be on the hook【陷入困境】 for as much as $13bn; the penalty will probably be far smaller.
The fine would be the third levied【征收】 by European authorities in three years.
In 2018 Google had to pay €4.3bn ($5bn) for exploiting Android, its operating system for smartphones, to unfair advantage.
The year before it paid €2.4bn ($2.7bn) for favouring its own online shopping service over those of its competitors.
Individual EU states are getting in on the act, too: in January CNIL, France’s data-protection regulator, imposed a €50m penalty on Google for violating the EU’s GDPR privacy law.
Mar 18th 2019
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