Google could see more fines from EU anti-trust regulators this year as probes into its AdSense advertising service and Android smartphone software approach their end, three people familiar with the cases said just a week after the company was hit with a record penalty for its shopping-search services.
Both are at advanced stages, though the Android case may not be concluded until later this year, according to one of the people, who all spoke on condition of anonymity.
Alphabet Inc’s Google is the EU’s highest-profile anti-trust target, with probes on three fronts occupying regulators for as long as seven years. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has called 2017 her “G year” during which she would seek to nail decisions against the search-engine giant.
European politicians have urged the EU to sanction Google or even break it up, while US critics claim regulators are unfairly targeting successful US firms.
Reuters reported earlier that regulators are seeking expert advice in the Android investigation to check their case, a sign that they may be trying to test possible flaws in the case before moving toward a final decision.
The European Commission and Google both declined to comment.
Vestager has set high stakes for Google to comply with an EU order accompanying last month’s 2.4 billion euros (US$2.7 billion) penalty.
She has warned of additional fines if it would not stop systematically favoring its own price comparison shopping service in its general search results.
Google has until late next month to make changes that satisfy the EU.
Vestager has also threatened further probes on travel or map services.
Google has strongly criticized the Android case, saying the EU is putting at risk its strategy of giving away mobile-phone software — which lowers costs for customers.
The company said the strict conditions it sets on apps ensure that Android phones and software work smoothly together.
Regulators also raised concerns about how telecoms are paid to put Google search on devices.
The company was last year accused of hindering competition for online ads over its AdSense for Search product.
The EU criticized unfair restrictions in the Google’s contracts for placing ads on Web sites, including retailers, telecoms and newspapers.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
RSS