Google Says EU Commission Too Uptight, Argues Market Competition Is ‘Robustly Competitive’

The European Commission has been riding Google about its supposed anti-competition habits regarding its search engine results and has repeatedly filed antitrust charges against the tech company. Google responded that the charges are just a bunch of malarkey, saying that the market is “robustly competitive” and that the EU Commission is being too narrow-minded in its accusations.

Google is facing a potential fine worth several billion euros if the charges pull through, The Wall Street Journal reports. The back and forth between the EU regulators and the tech company has been brewing for some time now and based on Google’s latest response, the search engine giant is gearing up to fight the allegations tooth and nail.

In its latest response to the Commission, Google argued that there was no real evidence that its practice of prioritizing paying corporations and placing ads on its search page is hurting websites offering price comparisons. The tech giant also said that the regulators are looking at a rival site set that is too narrow to draw relevant conclusions from. More than that, Google points out that most customers on mobile are liable to rely on dedicated apps, which is being ignored.

A spokesperson for the EU Commission had said that they have already received and reviewed the reply. A response will be forthcoming once a careful analysis has been done and a decision has been made.

In a blog post, Google's general counsel, Kent Walker also wrote that the regulators were ignoring sites like Amazon. Walker also pointed out that Google’s main goal with its search engine is to help users find the things that they need regardless of what form it takes.

“If you’re looking to buy a coffee machine or a cast iron pan, we want to connect you directly to merchants who sell them, whether that’s through organic links or ads," the post reads. "Showing more useful ads benefits us, our advertisers, and most of all, you, our users."