EU hits Google with record $5 billion antitrust fine

European Union commission.
(Image credit: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

European Union regulators on Wednesday hit Google with a record €4.3 billion ($5 billion) fine for antitrust violations, BBC reports. The European Commission said Google abused its Android market dominance by inserting its own search engine and Chrome apps into the widely used operating system for smartphones and tablets. The regulators also said Google did other things to block competition, such as paying "certain large manufacturers and mobile network operators" to exclusively bundle its search app on handheld devices.

The fine far surpassed Google's previous $2.7 billion record-breaking fine, The Verge reports, which the EU imposed last year, saying Google had manipulated search results. Google parent Alphabet has 90 days to change its business practices or face further penalties.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.