Antitrust probe into Google, this time by the US Justice Dept.
Europe has faced much antitrust pressure from the European Commission (EC). In 2017 it was fined $2.7 billion by the EC for a complaint regarding the ranking of shopping search results and ads. In 2018, it was charged $5.1 billion for practices related to Google’s Android operating system. Earlier this March, it had to pay the EU $1.7 billion due to its advertising behaviour.
Google has also faced pressure from the US Federal Trade Commission in 2013 for some of its practices. However, this is the first time that the U.S. Justice Department is planning an antitrust investigation into Alphabet’s Google.
This news comes amid political and public discussions regarding the break up of big tech companies. As election campaigns gear up, Google is facing increasing pressure in the US. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 2020 presidential candidate is running with the big tech break up agenda, saying it’s stifling competition.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 2020 US presidential candidate, is looking to appoint regulators who would undo “anti-competitive mergers.” In her article on Medium, she wrote, “Current antitrust laws empower federal regulators to break up mergers that reduce competition,”CNBC
Big tech is clearly making it difficult for startups in the tech realm to compete. Their biggest strengths are their Fiscal power and market share, which deters entrepreneurs to even try. Breaking up big tech could certainly ease the playing field, and this is the only way in which governments can keep their power in check. Read more about this here.
