Google on Thursday formally pushed back against anti-trust charges from European Union regulators claiming its AdSense and Google Shopping platforms unfairly blocked competition and favored its own results, saying the EU’s case “lack evidence.”
The rebuttal comes in response to a series of charges levied by European anti-trust chief Margrethe Vestager alleging Google unfairly favored its own Google Shopping listings at the expense of other general search results and blocked search advertisements from competitors on third party websites. Back in July, Vestager said Google has come up with “many innovative products,” but that didn’t give the company the right to “ to deny other companies the chance to compete and innovate.”
Google was given the chance to respond to the charges before the European Commission took corrective or disciplinary action.
In a Thursday blog post, Google Senior Vice President and General Counsel Kent Walker said the tech giant rejected the EU’s claims based on a lack of substance.
“There is simply no meaningful correlation between the evolution of our search services and the performance of price comparison sites,” Walker wrote. “Ultimately, we can’t agree with a case that lacks evidence and would limit our ability to serve our users, just to satisfy the interests of a small number of websites. But we remain committed to working with the Commission in hopes of resolving the issues raised, and we look forward to continuing our discussions.”
The European Commission has also accused Google of using anti-competitive business tactics around its Android operating system by forcing vendors to preinstall certain apps and Google’s search engine. Walker said Thursday a rebuttal to those charges is forthcoming.
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