GOOGLE GETS €2.4B FINE FOR FUDGING SEARCH INFO

brussels — EU antitrust regulators hit Alphabet unit Google with a record €2.42 billion fine on Tuesday, taking a tough line in the first of three investigations into the company’s dominance in searches and smartphones.

It is the biggest fine the EU has ever imposed on a single company in an antitrust case, exceeding a €1.06 billion sanction handed down to US chipmaker Intel in 2009.

The European Commission said the world’s most popular internet search engine has 90 days to stop favouring its own shopping service or face a further penalty per day of up to five per cent of Alphabet’s average daily global turnover.

The fine, equivalent to 3 per cent of Alphabet’s turnover, is the biggest regulatory setback for Google, which settled with US enforcers in 2013 without a penalty after agreeing to change some of its search practices. The EU competition enforcer has also charged Google with using its Android mobile operating system to crush rivals.