LOC18:44
15:44 GMT
Margrethe Vestager, EU Commissioner for Competition, speaking at the press conference
BRUSSELS, March 20 (KUNA) -- The European Commission Wednesday announced that it has fined the US search engine giant Google 1.49 billion euro (USD 1.69 billion) for breaching EU antitrust rules.
"Google has cemented its dominance in online search adverts and shielded itself from competitive pressure by imposing anti-competitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites," EU Commissioner for competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, told a news conference.
"This is illegal under EU antitrust rules. The misconduct lasted over 10 years and denied other companies the possibility to compete on the merits and to innovate - and consumers the benefits of competition," she added. (end)
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