As the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) seeks to end Google’s alleged monopoly of the search and ad sector with a lawsuit, Germany’s antitrust watchdog has initiated new steps to regulate the tech giant.
Related: German Antitrust Watchdog Takes New Step To Regulate Google
Bundeskartellamt, the German antitrust regulator, has ruled that Google, a division of Alphabet Inc., has “paramount significance across markets.” The decision puts the tech company one step closer to more regulation or even an outright ban.
Last year, an amendment to the German Competition Act passed that can further regulate or even prohibit firms that authorities allege engage in anti-competitive practices. While the ruling was not a surprise, given Google’s dominance, the agency had to take this first step before adopting further measures against the company.
While an outright prohibition of Google is unlikely, the latest step by the German government could lead regulators to implement the most stringent rules against Google or any large digital company found to engage in anti-competitive practices.
Google’s troubles were not just limited to Germany this week. France’s data regulator fined Google and Facebook for failing to make refusing cookies as easy as it is to accept them, a violation of the French Data Protection Act.
See also: Europe Crackdown on Big Tech Continues as Facebook, Google Fined Over Cookies in France
The Commission Nationale Informatique & Libertés, France’s regulatory watchdog, levied a 150 million euros ($170 million) penalty against Google, while Facebook was assessed a 60 million euros ($68 million) fine. The tech giants were ordered to comply within the cookie rules within 90 days. Failure to do so will result in a penalty of 100,000 euros ($113,253) per day of delay.
Still, the challenges facing the multinational tech company have not deterred it from pursuing its expansion plans.
Related: Google acquires Israeli cybersecurity company Siemplify for $500m
Earlier this week, Google confirmed its acquisition of Siemplify, the Israeli cybersecurity startup, for $500 million. The deal is expected to give the tech giant a stronger foothold in business security services, or security orchestration, automation and response.
“We plan to invest in SOAR capabilities with Siemplify’s cloud services as our foundation and the team’s talent leading the way,” Google wrote in a announcing the deal. “Our intention is to integrate Siemplify’s capabilities into Chronicle in ways that help enterprises modernize and automate their security operations.”
At the same time, the European Parliament (EP) is set to resume discussions on regulating online networks, cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence under the proposed Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. Top of the agenda is the region’s digital conversion.
The goal, according to EP, is to boost the European economy, while protecting the fundamental rights of consumers and investors. Proponents say the proposed set of regulations was developed to keep the digital space safe, make sure the fundamental rights of users are protected and establish a level playing field for merchants.
Looking ahead, regulations across the globe are expected to take shape this year, following a variety of initiatives launched by regulators and policymakers in 2021, from FinTech to crypto, privacy and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In TechREG, many of these regulatory debates are likely to transform into new laws and regulations in 2022. PYMNTS has also published 10 predictions for new regulations for the new year covering the following sectors: Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), Real-Time Payments (RTP), Open Banking, Stablecoins and CBDC, Big Tech, Gig Economy, Data Regulation, AI, Metaverse and Internet of Things (IoT).
Read more : 10 Ways Regulation Could Shake Up the Digital Economy in 2022
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