Seven U.S. companies and industry groups have signed a letter in support of the European Union fining Google more than $1 billion for allegedly favoring its own shopping service over others in search results.
Yelp, Oracle and News Corp have signed a letter supporting EU action against Google
Google is expected to be fined more than $1 billion for anticompetitive practices in Europe.
The 1.1 euro ($1.2 billion) fine is expected to be issued this week and would require Google to change its business practices in Europe. The changes could have ramifications beyond Google Shopping and might even impact Google’s operations in the U.S.
The companies and industry groups that signed the letter — including Oracle, Yelp and News Corp — have a history of opposing Google’s practices. Those three companies in particular have all made antitrust or copyright complaints against Google.
Here’s the text of the letter:
Dear Commissioner Vestager,
We represent US companies that employ hundreds of thousands of workers across 50 states. We are writing to express our support for the Commission’s enforcement action against Google.
As you near final decisions in the Shopping and Android cases, Google and its allies will no doubt continue to press through its lobbying and public relations machine the fiction that any adverse decision amounts to European “protectionism.” As U.S. based companies, we wish to go on record that enforcement action against Google is necessary and appropriate, not provincial. We have watched Google undermine competition in the United States and abroad. Google operates on a global scale and across the entire online ecosystem, destroying jobs and stifling innovation.
Google and its allies may also claim that there is no factual basis for a decision against Google. That too is untrue. The case against Google, both in Europe and the United States, rests on sound legal and factual foundations. Indeed, the US Federal Trade Commission legal staff found that Google has monopoly power and that it engages in anticompetitive practices.
We believe that decisive action is necessary to restore competition and once again open the Internet to innovation and growth. We hope that your counterparts in the United States will use this as an opportunity to address similar anticompetitive conduct by Google.
Sincerely,
Disconnect, Inc.
Getty Images, Inc.
News Corporation
News Media Alliance
Oracle Corporation
Trip.com
Yelp Inc.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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