EU antitrust regulators open third front against Google

EU regulators have brought a third antitrust charge against Alphabet Inc's Google, accusing it of blocking rivals in online search advertising, a move that raises the pressure on the company to modify its practices or face hefty fines.

The European Commission also reinforced an existing charge against the company that its search results favour Google's own shopping service.

"Google has come up with many innovative products that have made a difference to our lives. But that doesn't give Google the right to deny other companies the chance to compete and innovate," European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in Brussels.

The commission said it had sent two charge sheets known as “statements of objections” to Google.

The first accuses Google of having abused its 80 percent market share in the placement of search advertising on third-party websites.

This relates to Google’s “AdSense for Search” platform, in which Google acts as an intermediary for websites such as those of online retailers, telecoms operators or newspapers, with searches producing results that include search ads.

The second accusation, which built on a charge sheet sent to Google in April, rejected the company’s claim that the EU watchdog had failed to take into account competition from online retailers Amazon and eBay. Reuters