Google's Contested EU Antitrust Fine is Peanuts

Google is in the European Union's General Court this week, attempting to overturn the €2.4 billion antitrust fine it was issued in 2017 for "abusing dominance as search engine by giving illegal advantage to own comparison shopping service". In its defense, the company’s lawyer Thomas Graf said: "Competition law does not require Google to hold back innovation or compromise its quality to accommodate rivals. Otherwise, competition would be restricted and innovation would be stifled”. The hearing is scheduled to last three days, ending on Friday.

While this does seem like a substantial penalty, the infographic below reveals just how small of a slap on the wrist it is for a company the size of Google. Based upon parent company Alphabet's revenue from 2019, it would take a mere 6 days to earn the funds required to pay it off. Still, it's more significant than a similar fine they received in Russia in 2016. As we covered at the time, the $6.8 million would have been paid off in just 41 minutes...