Turkey slaps Google with $37m fine for anti-competitive behavior

Turkey’s Competition Board has fined Alphabet’s Google more than $36.65 million for abusing its dominant position in search engine services, the regulator said on Wednesday.

In a statement, it said Google had favored its own price comparison for accommodations and its local search services over those of competitors, as reported by Anadolu Agency.

Google must ensure within six months that competitors are not disadvantaged and report to the board annually for five years on the issue, the regulator added.

Google responded that its search services were designed to efficiently meet consumer demand for information, and that offering more travel and accommodation options actually boosted competition.

“We will evaluate the decision (of the board) and continue working with the Competition Authority by maintaining our usual constructive approach,” the company said in a statement.

Turkey’s Competition Authority has fined Google for abusing its market position over various issues. Last year, it fined the company nearly 200 million lira over unfair access to advertising space.

The Board also made headlines when it announced earlier this year that it was launching an investigation into the messaging app WhatsApp and owner Facebook over the controversial new terms and privacy policy that forced users to agree to sharing their data including phone numbers and location if they wished to continue using the app.

Turkey’s government has been quite active in its attempts to target social media companies with new restrictions and fines ever since it passed a law back in July calling for greater local oversight of foreign firms.