EU fines Google $1.7B for breaching antitrust rules

ISTANBUL

The European Commission has imposed a €1.49-billion ($1.69-billion) fine on Google for breaching the EU’s antitrust rules on online advertising.

Google is accused of imposing a number of restrictive clauses in contracts with third-party websites for preventing its rivals from placing their search ads, according to a statement on Wednesday.

Margrethe Vestager, a commissioner in charge of competition policy, said that Google's anti-competitive contractual restrictions are illegal under EU's antitrust rules.

The commission also said Google started to impose these practices in 2006.

The commission's fine accounted for 1.29 percent of the search engine giant's total turnover in 2018, the statement added.

The commission fined Google €2.42 billion ($2.9 billion) and €4.34 billion ($5.07 billion) in June 2017 and June 2018, respectively, for giving an illegal advantage to its comparison shopping service and illegal practices via Android to strengthen the dominance of its search engine.