MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The European Commission's antitrust watchdog submitted a formal objection to tech giant Google on Wednesday for their practice of manipulating Internet user search results and diverting them toward its shopping service.
"In the case of Google I am concerned that the company has given an unfair advantage to its own comparison shopping service, in breach of EU antitrust rules," European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
Vestager added the commission had launched a separate investigation into Google's Android operating system widely used across mobile devices.
"Smartphones, tablets and similar devices play an increasing role in many people's daily lives and I want to make sure the markets in this area can flourish without anticompetitive constraints imposed by any company," she said.
The commission's "Statement of Objections" is a preliminary position in an investigation over allegations of Google's abuse of dominant market position dating back to November 2010 that does not preclude comments from the company.
Vestager is expected to make a statement on Google Wednesday afternoon.
