Europe’s favourite search engine, Google, has been charged with monopoly abuse because of the way it promotes its shopping comparison service over others.
The charge comes after a five-year probe by the EU and could result in a trial and fines running into the billions.
Google, based in the US, provides more than 90% of all general searches on the internet in Europe.
But it is being accused of abusing its dominance to harm competition by artificially promoting its own shopping comparisons.
The formal 'statement of objections' was announced by Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner responsible for enforcing antitrust laws.
"In the case of Google I am concerned that the company has given an unfair advantage to its own comparison shopping service, in breach of EU antitrust rules. Google now has the opportunity to convince the Commission to the contrary.
"My goal is to ensure that consumers and innovative companies can benefit from a competitive environment in Europe.
"I would like to hear what Google has to say for itself. This is important because the statement of objections is not the end."
Now Google must respond within 10 weeks. One of its executives had already said that there is “a ton of competition” for shopping, including Azazon and eBay, two of the largest shopping sites in the world.
The European Commission is looking closely at a number of US technology giants to ensure fair competition, privacy and taxation adherence.
