The European Union’s executive hit Google (GOOG) with an official antitrust complaint on Wednesday that alleges the company abuses its dominance in Internet searches and also opened a probe into its Android mobile system. The move massively raises the stakes in the highest profile antitrust case in Europe and could lead to billions in fines for Google if it does not change the way it does business in the 28-country bloc. In announcing the action, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said she is ‘concerned that the company has given an unfair advantage to its own comparison shopping service.’ Vestager said the separate antitrust probe into Android will investigate whether the Internet giant relies on anti-competitive deals and abuses its dominant position in Europe’s mobile market. The company has a market share of over 90 percent of Internet searches in the EU, compared with around 70 percent in the U.S. Vestager said that one in four companies complaining about Google were U.S. rivals. The EU has for years sought a settlement with Google, but says the company has not fully addressed its concerns. ‘Dominance as such is not a problem,’ said Vestager. ‘However dominant companies have a responsibility not to abuse their powerful market position.’
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