Social Media Means
Photo by Mikhail Nilov Pexels Logo Photo: Mikhail Nilov

Why did Google get in trouble?

The EU has already fined Google more than $8.2 billion in recent years over antitrust practices. 🇺🇸 United States: An ongoing lawsuit against Google alleges that the company has monopolized the ad-tech market and beat down competition by abusing its access to data.

Can I get fired for saying I hate my job?
Can I get fired for saying I hate my job?

"Currently, California, Colorado, Louisiana, New York and North Dakota ban employers from firing or retaliating against employees for any off-duty...

Read More »
What do 1k subscribers get you?
What do 1k subscribers get you?

At the 1,000-subscriber mark, creators reap the biggest benefits of being on YouTube. They become eligible for the YouTube Partner Program, which...

Read More »

Being successful is risky business. Around the world, nine out of every ten web searches run on Google—but that kind of profitable dominance also invites scrutiny and suspicion. Governments in every continent are now setting up hurdles in the path of Alphabet and its search giant Google, charging the company with antitrust or privacy law violations. Most recently, India’s antitrust agency, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), slapped penalties totaling $275 million on Google for abusing its dominance in the Indian mobile developer market. India is, by far, Google’s largest market for users of its Android smartphone OS. But it is not alone in pursuing action against the company.

datawrapper-chart-Xmkae

All the countries where Google is already in trouble...

🇪🇺 European Union: Officials are looking into whether Google’s anti-competitive practices have harmed app developers. The company has been fined for stifling competition through the dominance of Android. The EU has already fined Google more than $8.2 billion in recent years over antitrust practices. 🇺🇸 United States: An ongoing lawsuit against Google alleges that the company has monopolized the ad-tech market and beat down competition by abusing its access to data. 🇰🇷 South Korea: A privacy commission fined Google $50 million for violating privacy laws, using data from other websites as well as apps to generate customized advertisements. Google is also being investigated for potentially violating South Korea’s rules governing in-app payments. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Alphabet faces lawsuits over anti-competitive digital advertising practices and over-pricing app store purchases. 🇮🇳 India: The Competition Commission of India has penalized Google for monopolizing its Play Store payment system, and for abusing its dominance in the Android ecosystem. 🇫🇷 France: Google paid $528 million in fines to resolve a dispute related to news publishers displaying copyrighted content.

Story continues

🇦🇺 Australia: A court ordered Google to pay $43 million in penalties for misleading users on collection of their personal location data. 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Apart from a lawsuit over its digital advertising practices, Google is also embroiled in a probe over its app Play Store payment rules, very similar to the ongoing Indian case. 🇷🇺 Russia: In July, Russia fined Google $34 million for suspending and blocking accounts on its YouTube video service. Google’s Russian subsidiary has already filed for bankruptcy, after the government seized its bank account.

...and all the countries that are stepping up scrutiny

🇮🇩 Indonesia: An antitrust agency is probing Google for potential unfair business practices over its Play Store payment services. 🇯🇵 Japan: An ongoing investigation is determining whether Google has unfairly leveraged its dominance over the markets for phones, smartwatches, and other wearables. 🇿🇦 South Africa: A competition commission has made provisional recommendations for how Google should display search pages, to better distinguish between paid advertising and traditional organic search results. Google promised to “work constructively” with the commision but has not mentioned revamping its search pages. 🇩🇪 Germany: The German government is examining Google’s content licensing deals with news publishers and its data processing terms. 🇮🇹 Italy: An antitrust inquiry is investigating whether Google has abused its dominant position by hindering data portability rights. 🇨🇦 Canada: The Competition Bureau is seeking more information on whether Google behaved in anti-competitive ways in the online advertising industry.

More from Quartz

Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.

What is the hardest thing about working as a social worker?
What is the hardest thing about working as a social worker?

Among the hardest things about working as a social worker are factors like the emotional stress that comes with seeing the extremes of injustice...

Read More »
What do most YouTubers use to edit?
What do most YouTubers use to edit?

What do YouTubers use to edit their videos? Apparently, the programs used by a lot of YouTubers are Final Cut Pro, iMovie and Premiere Pro. iMovie...

Read More »

Why did Vanced shut down?

YouTube Vanced, the mobile phone application popular among Android users to block all advertisements on the video-sharing platform, is being shut down due to legal reasons. It also allowed users to customise their notifications as well as apply a 'true dark mode'.

Vanced gave users an ad free experience on YouTube, which isn't possible without YouTube Premium. YouTube Vanced, the mobile phone application popular among Android users to block all advertisements on the video-sharing platform, is being shut down due to legal reasons. It also allowed users to customise their notifications as well as apply a ‘true dark mode'. Vanced gave users an ad free experience on YouTube, which is otherwise only possible through subscribing to YouTube Premium. "Vanced has been discontinued. In the coming days, the download links on the website will be taken down. We know this is not something you wanted to hear but it's something we need to do. Thank you all for supporting us over the years," a tweet on its official handle said. It also added, “Currently installed versions will work just fine, until they become outdated in 2 years or so." Vanced has been discontinued. In the coming days, the download links on the website will be taken down. We know this is not something you wanted to hear but it's something we need to do. Thank you all for supporting us over the years. — Vanced Official (@YTVanced) March 13, 2022 While Google has not publicly commented on Vanced being shut down, The Verge reported that owners of the popular app were sent a cease-and-desist letter, forcing them to stop all forms of distribution or development of the app. This follows Google's action on two other third party bots that one could use on the popular app Discord, wherein users could listen to music on YouTube without ads.

How old is the Squid Game?
How old is the Squid Game?

Squid Game was released worldwide on September 17, 2021, to critical acclaim and international attention.

Read More »
Do people pay to be verified?
Do people pay to be verified?

More than 2 million accounts responded, and 81.5% of them said they wouldn't pay anything. An additional 10.5% said they'd pay $5, and 5.5% said...

Read More »
How can I earn money through Internet daily?
How can I earn money through Internet daily?

12 Ways to Make Money Online Work as an Insurance POSP. ... Look for Freelancing Work. ... Try Content Writing Jobs. ... Start Blogging. ... Sell...

Read More »
What are the biggest mistakes made in influencer marketing?
What are the biggest mistakes made in influencer marketing?

Collaborating with influencers only on the basis of follower count. One of the most common influencer marketing mistakes is to opt for influencers...

Read More »