- With little prospect of settlement, Google (GOOG +0.6%, GOOGL +0.7%) is headed for its first European Union sanction this year, sources tell Reuters.
- The company has no further plan for a settlement after three failed compromise attempts since 2016, sources said, and neither party has much left in the way of incentives to reach a deal.
- That means a likely sanction in the test case tied to Google's shopping service, which European regulators charged was favored by its search results. A second charge recently followed over Google's Android operating system.
- Last week's news that Google and Microsoft were burying the hatchet may be a sign that Google will strike a deal with the EC, and avoid repeating Microsoft's own damaging fight with Europeans (That company ended up with fines of more than €2.2B after a decade-long fight).
- Now read Alphabet/Google Approaching A Fork In The Road »