Google antitrust proceedings: Digital business and competition

Briefing 14-07-2015

Google holds around 90% of the market share for internet search services in most European Economic Area (EEA) countries, and several companies have complained to the European Commission about Google's market dominance. The European Commission has thus formally launched two separate investigations, one on Google's comparison shopping and the other on the company's handling of applications installed on Android operating mobile devices. In April 2015, the Commission sent a Statement of Objections to Google, indicating that the company had abused its dominant position in the European Economic Area (EEA). Google admits that it is dominant, thanks to its innovative products and services, but does not agree that it has abused its position on the market. The Google case may provide an opportunity for the Commission to clarify some aspects of competition law with regard to certain digital practices, and to close the difficult gap between the rights of companies who dominate the market, free competition and consumer protection.