American tech companies are suffering from their success across the pond.
European regulators have taken a hard look at the Silicon Valley tech giants that dominate the market share on the continent in recent years.
Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) have faced steep fines and years of litigation over practices that don't receive as much scrutiny domestically.
Earlier this month, Meta was fined €405 million ($402 million) by Ireland's Data Protection Commission, the second largest fine ever issued under the EU's privacy rules
That comes after Italy slapped Amazon with a $1.3 billion fine for crowding out its competitors by favoring third-party sellers that use the company’s logistics services.
"Large gatekeeper platforms have prevented businesses and consumers from the benefits of competitive digital markets. The gatekeepers will now have to comply with a well-defined set of obligations and prohibitions," the EU said after adopting the Digital Markets Act earlier this year that aims to make the tech sector "fairer and contestable."
MICHAEL GOTTSCHALK/DDP/AFP via Getty Images
Google Faces Another Fine
Alphabet's Google is one of the prime targets of EU regulators.
The European General Court on Sept. 14 upheld its ruling on Google's Android antitrust case, fining the company €4.12 billion ($4.12 billion), the largest fine ever imposed by a competition authority in Europe.
The General Court did lower the fine from its original €4.34 billion amount.
Part of the EU's problem with Android is just how ubiquitous it is in the economic bloc. Android phones accounted for about 80% of smart mobile devices used in Europe in July 2018.
After four years of litigation, the Commission upheld its fine against Google for "having abused its dominant position by imposing anticompetitive contractual restrictions on manufacturers of mobile devices and on mobile network operators."
Alphabet forced Android manufacturers to pre-install apps and its search engine, which violates anti-competitive rules. The commission claims Alphabet had been breaking the rules in Europe since January 2011.
The objective of these actions were to "protect and strengthen Google's dominant position in relation to general search services and, therefore, the revenue obtained by Google through search advertisements," the Commission said in its ruling.
Alphabet did not immediately return a request for comment.
This fine builds on the €2.42 billion ($2.42 billion) the EU levied against Google last year for favoring its own comparison shopping service over competitors and a €1.49 billion ($1.49 billion) fine for stopping website owners from including rival search results.
EU Has Eye on Big Tech
Google isn't the only company in European regulator crosshairs.
In July, Britain's Competition and Markets Authority, the country's antitrust watchdog, opened an investigation into whether Amazon is taking anti-competitive measures that affect sellers on its marketplace and could result in worse deals for its customers.
Germany's Federal Cartel Office on Sept. 14 said that Amazon's position is of outstanding, cross-market importance for competition, meaning that the company needs to be reviewed more closely to prevent any anti-competitive behavior.
Last year, Germany changed antitrust laws for digital corporations and gave the Cartel Office more power to monitor and regulate the dominant positions of some companies.
Meanwhile, back in the U.K., the CMA said that it is investigating whether Microsoft's $75 billion bid for videogame maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI) is lawful.
