The European Commission issued a record $5 billion fine on Google Inc. on the grounds that “the Android operating system has monopolistic behavior”. Of course, the Internet giant will not pay such a huge fine without a fight. If the company has to “fight dirty”, it will do so to avoid the fine. However, the company is taking its battle to a court of competent jurisdiction. The internet giant recently appealed against the ruling, and in a recent court hearing. Its’s lawyers claim that billions of netizens around the world use Google’s internet services because of the best service experience. They claim that Google does not use any strategy to maintain a competitive edge in the market.
In 2018, the European Commission issued a fine of 4.34 billion euros ($5 billion) against Google. The agency pointed out that the internet giant abuse the competitive advantage of Android. It claims the operating system does this to combat rivals. This enables it to further consolidate its leading position in the field of general web search. The European Commission accused the company of conducting a series of unfair transactions, including requiring third-party smartphone manufacturers to pre-install software such as Google Search, Play Store, and Chrome browser.
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People use Google Search because its the best – Google’s lawyers
Google filed a judicial appeal against the European Commission’s ruling. A few days ago in the European General Court (the second-highest court in the EU), its lawyer, Meredith Pickford, told the judge that every day, billions of internet users around the world use the search engine not because it abuses its dominant position but because its solution is the best in the industry.
Pickford said that some of Google’s external cooperation is not intended to hinder fair competition in the market, but just to maintain Google’s own competitiveness. Pickford claims that Internet companies can work hard and compete fairly, and consumers are not fools. If Microsoft’s Bing search or other search engines are better than Google, they will use these search engines.
The lawyer representing the European Commission, Nicholas Khan, said that the transaction between Google and smartphone manufacturers is actually for their own benefit. Khan urged the judge to maintain the European Commission’s antitrust ruling and fines. Khan claims that in the Internet market, the internet giant has already given itself the crown before the competition starts. He claims that what Google did is worthy of the high fines from the European Commission. As of now, the court is yet to make a decision regarding this appeal.
