US-based Internet company Google on Thursday rejected new EU accusations that it illegally abuses its market dominance, in its formal reaction to antitrust allegations by Brussels earlier this year.
Google filed objections against charges made by European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager over online shopping, and fresh charges over its advertising services.
Kent Walker, senior vice president and general counsel of Google, said in a blog that the shopping case “still rests on a theory that just doesn’t fit the reality of how most people shop online.”
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“We believe these claims are wrong as a matter of fact, law and economics,” Walker said.
The EU now has three cases against Google, one of a series of US companies targeted by Vestager.
The biggest and most recent case involves Google’s Android mobile phone operating system, a serious challenge to one of the company’s most strategic businesses with smartphones fast taking from over traditional PCs.
Google is expected to respond to the Android case next week.
The second and oldest case involves Google’s alleged abuse of the dominance of its search engine for online shopping. It was officially lodged last year, and then in July Vestager strengthened the case, to which Google is now responding.
Brussels accuses Google of giving its own online shopping services top priority in search results to the detriment of other price comparison services.
Thirdly the EU accuses Google of abusing its market power in the placement of search advertising on third-party Web sites.
The legal onslaught against Google came after a long period in which the two sides tried unsuccessfully to settle the case amicably. Instead, the cases have raised tensions between Brussels and Washington, which has accused the EU of unfairly targeting US giants. Other EU investigations include cases against Starbucks Corp, Amazon.com Inc and McDonald’s Corp.
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