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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Google to comply with EU search demands to avoid more fines

Google will not pursue a contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI for short, that calls for a massive cloud-computing system that can handle classified U.S. military data and enable new defense capabilities. (Associated Press)
By Aoife White Bloomberg

Google will comply with Europe’s demands to change the way it runs its shopping search service, a rare instance of the internet giant bowing to regulatory pressure to avoid more fines.

The Alphabet Inc. unit faced a Tuesday deadline to tell the European Union how it planned to follow an order to stop discriminating against rival shopping search services in the region. A Google spokeswoman said it is sharing that plan with regulators before the deadline expires, but declined to comment further.

The EU fined Google a record $2.7 billion in late June for breaking antitrust rules by skewing its general search results to unfairly favor its own shopping service over rival sites. The company had 60 days to propose how it would “stop its illegal content” and 90 days to make changes to how the company displays shopping results when users search for a product. Those changes need to be put in place by Sept. 28 to stave off a risk that the EU could fine the company 5 percent of daily revenue for each day it fails to comply.

“The obligation to comply is fully Google’s responsibility,” the European Commission said in an emailed statement without elaborating on what the company must do to comply.

The onus is on Google to find a solution that satisfies regulators, who’ve learned from past battles with Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. Microsoft’s failure to obey a 2004 antitrust order and charge reasonable fees for software licenses saw it fined roughly $1.077 billion four years later. Microsoft argued that its prices were fair and it shouldn’t be compelled to give away patented innovation.

Intel’s lawyer said in 2009 that he was “mystified” as to what regulators wanted the company to do to comply with an order to halt anti-competitive rebates for chip sales to computer makers. Intel may finally receive clarity when the EU’s top court rules on its legal challenge to a more than $1.28 billion fine on Sept. 6.

Google has the option of challenging the fine and the antitrust order to the EU courts, which can take years to reach a final decision. Next week’s Intel ruling will come some eight years after the EU fine. Google would have to comply with the order ahead of any final decision from EU judges.

The EU now has a month to check if Google’s planned changes will fit the bill. Regulators are also expected to levy fines in separate investigations into Google’s Android mobile-phone software – possibly as soon as next month – and the AdSense advertising service. Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief, has also threatened further probes on travel or map services.