Indian antitrust watchdog The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has fined Google INR 1.36 billion (approximately USD 21.17 million) for “search bias” and abuse of its dominant position. CCI said Google abused its dominant position in online web search and online search advertising markets, Reuters reports. “Google was found to be indulging in practices of search bias and by doing so, it causes harm to its competitors as well as to users”, the CCI said. Google has 60 days to pay the fine.
“Google was leveraging its dominance in the market for online general web search, to strengthen its position in the market for online syndicate search services”, the CCI added. However, the CCI said it did not find any contravention related to Google’s specialized search design dubbed AdWords and online distribution agreements.
According to a Google spokesperson, the company is reviewing the “narrow concerns” identified by the Commission and will assess its next steps. “We have always focused on innovating to support the evolving needs of our users. The Competition Commission of India has confirmed that, on the majority of issues it examined, our conduct complies with Indian competition laws”, the spokesman said.
In India, the Commission found that Google, via its search design, had placed its commercial flight search function at a prominent position on the search results page to the disadvantage of businesses trying to gain market access. For infringing antitrust conduct, the Commission imposed a fine at the rate of 5 percent of the average total revenue generated by Google from its Indian operations.
