EU antitrust regulators are not convinced that the $1.7 billion fine imposed in March 2019 on Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’ Google yields desired results. Google hit with a hefty fine because it abused its dominance to prevent the search ads of the peers on third party sites. The EU regulators launched a fresh investigation into the search giant’s practices of collecting and using the data. They focus on web browsers, online advertising, and local search services of Google.
Google receives a questionnaire
The antitrust regulators have sent a questionnaire to Google as part of its preliminary investigation. They intend to know why and how Google is collecting data and what it will do with the data.
According to Google, the collected data is used to improve relevant advertising and make the services more effective and efficient. The search giant provides control to the users to manage their data, transfer, or delete the data. However, the regulators are looking at details like how Google monetizes user data.
Google faced fines of over $8 billion in the past two years in the EU. Margrethe Vestager, the European Competition Commissioner, has ordered the popular search giant to make changes to its business practices.
Google faces scrutiny from the US regulators
Some Silicon Valley giants and Google are also facing scrutiny from the US regulators and government officials. In July 2019, the tech giants Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Apple have received an ultimatum from the Justice Department over their antitrust practices. House Democrats have also initiated an investigation in June 2019 to know whether they are engaged in anti-competitive practices.
The House Judiciary Committee of the US launched an investigation in September 2019 into the strategy of Google to implement DNS over Https, a new internet protocol, to get an unfair advantage. Around fifty state Attorney Generals began an antitrust probe in September 2019 to look into the search and advertising businesses of Google.
Competition Watchdog in Britain orders probe
The competition watchdog in Britain has ordered a probe into Google’s takeover of Looker Data Sciences, a big data analytics firm, for $2.6 billion. It is checking whether the acquisition by Google could hurt the competition.
