EU charges Google with abusing web-search dominance

On Wednesday, the European Union formally launched its biggest antitrust case since scrutinizing Microsoft a decade ago, filing charges against Google for allegedly using its overwhelming share of the web-search market to inappropriately steer users toward its other Google products. "If the investigation confirmed our concerns, Google would have to face the legal consequences and change the way it does business in Europe," explained Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition commissioner.

Google could be on the hook for 6 billion euros ($6.4 billion) in fines — by far the largest EU antitrust penalty to date — if it doesn't refute the charges. Alternately, Google could reach a settlement with Vestager.

The long-expected charges focus especially on Google's shopping services, but Vestager also announced that the EU has launched a separate investigation into whether Google's Android mobile operating system — the most-used by a lot — inappropriately requires Samsung and other carriers to feature Google services prominently on their Android handsets.

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