EU charges Google with more antitrust charges
The European Union's (EU) Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, has announced a new round of antitrust competition charges against Google, claiming that the search engine has abused its dominant position by favouring its comparison shopping service in its search pages, restricting consumer choice. This is the third time since early 2015 the Commission has challenged Google, which has a 90% market share of the EU's online search industry. If the case is successful, Google could face fines of up to 10%, equivalent to $7bn, of its global annual revenue. The company denies any wrongdoing and has until the autumn to respond. Other European regulatory challenges for Google include tax investigations in France and Spain and data privacy issues.

When it comes to Europe’s lengthy investigations into Google, Margrethe Vestager, the region’s competition chief, is hoping that the third time’s a charm.

Ms. Vestager announced on Thursday a new round of antitrust charges against the company — the third set since early 2015 — claiming that some of the company’s advertising products had restricted consumer choice. The efforts are part of her continuing push to rein in Google’s activities in the European Union, where the Silicon Valley company has captured roughly 90 percent of the region’s online search market.

“Google’s conduct, based on our evidence, is harmful to consumers,” Ms. Vestager told reporters in Brussels on Thursday. “Google’s magnificent innovations don’t give it the right to deny competitors the chance to innovate.”

The announcement represents a setback for Google, which vigorously denied any wrongdoing in two previous European antitrust charges linked to Android, its popular mobile operating system, and some of its dominant online search services. It also comes at a difficult time for Europe’s competition authorities, which have been unable to land a knockout punch against Google’s perceived abusive activities in the region, despite investigations that date back to 2010.