INTERNET search giant, Google, is braced for a potentially lengthy legal fight after rejecting an EU demand to change the way it ranks on comparison-shopping services in its search results.
Formally responding to antitrust charges filed by the EU earlier this year, lawyers for California-based Google argued that European regulators were mistaken in their analysis of the fast-changing online-shopping business, misconstrued Google’s impact on rival shopping-comparison services, and failed to provide sufficient legal justification for its demands.
In a written statement, Google general counsel Kent Walker said the EU's position was “wrong as a matter of fact, law and economics”, paving the way to a long drawn-out battle through the EU courts.
The case already dates back to 2010 with neither side able to reach a lasting settlement.
In April, the EU executive commission said it found that Google "gives systematic favourable treatment" to its Google Shopping at the expense of others in its general search results, such as Amazon and eBay.
If found to have been running its business in an illegal manner across the 28-state block, Google could be hit with a $6 billion (£3.9m) fine.
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