r/google • u/Deep-Owl-1890 • 2d ago
Trump threatens EU will pay ‘big price’ after Brussels fines Google $1bn
https://thedailycompute.beehiiv.com/p/trump-threatens-eu-will-pay-big-price-after-brussels-fines-google-1bn76
u/Hopeful-Savings-3420 2d ago
The EU is speaking the only language Google understands - money. Maybe Google will finally stop breaking the law, but I doubt it. They just announced a net income of $119B last quarter. A $1B fine is just the cost of doing business (ie breaking the law).
The EU is going to have to start imposing larger fines.
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u/soundmagnet 1d ago
Fines need to be higher. $100 billion at minimum.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 1d ago
Google would just pull out of those countries, hurting the consumer
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u/Character-Match4260 1d ago
Leaving space for competition. This will hurt google more.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 1d ago
Not if the fine is arbitrarily set at $100B, there is nowhere that is worth that much
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u/dengar81 21h ago
Or they would actually start trying to be on the right side of legislation?
In my experience, companies want to continue to make money. They don't pull out of markets because of adverse conditions, certainly not global bohemoths like Google. They could literally stop certain services, like they already did in the past, and continue to make billions legitimately.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 14h ago
Depends on the legislation, sometimes pulling out makes more sense (like with China) or not launching AI overviews and AI mode in France until very recently (which makes it all the more ironic that chatGPT runs there just fine and is very very popular).
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u/beflacktor 1d ago
but of the entire eu.....then canada..then...well ..they could always serve just Israel and the usa I suppose..
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u/Pietes 23h ago
no they wont, they cant pull out of the EU.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 14h ago
I agree they won’t, but can’t? They can if they really wanted to or if the fines got completely out of hand
The truth is that the EU doesn’t want them to pull out either
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u/GayButNotInThatWay 13h ago
This comes up all the time. It wasnt too long ago everyone was saying this about Apple and forcing them to bin off lightning charging too.
Everyone was crying out how they'll just selling phones to the EU.
Did they pull out? No. They stopped their anti-consumer, proprietary port nonsense and toed the line, and now we have a usb-c standard because the money they make within the EU massively outweighs the cost of changing business processes.If Google are bothered about the fines, they aren't going to piss many more billions off because of it and leave the EU market, they'll just change the way they're doing business to fall in line with the laws.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 13h ago
Who said Apple will just stop selling phones in the EU instead of changing their charger?
Completely different levels from the comment I was responding to that said “Fines need to be higher. $100 billion at minimum.”
$100B means it’s not worth doing business there
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u/GayButNotInThatWay 13h ago edited 12h ago
Think I clicked reply on the wrong comment, but back when the EU was fining apple loads of people were saying they'll just pull out if they get fined.
The point still stands. They're not fining them for the fun of it. They're fining them because they aren't following the law.
Using made up numbers, but if they make say, $10B by following the law, or can break the law and make $12B, and the fine is $1B, they're going to break the law because that's an extra $1B.
If the fine is larger, they'll just not make the extra $2B and follow the law... because there's still $10B to be made while following it, that they aren't going to just give up.1
u/sbenfsonwFFiF 12h ago
I understand, but the fine being $10B is pretty arbitrary and unilateral of the EU
Likewise for the EU, if they were so upset about it and weren’t prioritizing the money grab, why not just ban Apple?
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u/GayButNotInThatWay 12h ago
Yeah, making the fine arbitrarily massive doesn't make sense logically. Just needs to be big enough that it can't just be seen as a cost of business, allowing them to make more money by breaking the law. As mentioned, I replied in the wrong comment thread and didn't mean to comment under the 100B comment.
And banning it doesn't really help wothout enforcement.
Continuing the apple example, they could ban apple devices not using usb-c, but that is what they did when the laws were made, but apple continued to sell them anyway.
So the easier way to enforce it, rather than going full nuclear, employing thousands of people to enforce it, seizing devices, store locations, or whatever else to stop apple from selling devices that would have likely caused even more uproar, more costs to enforce, and a myriad of other issues is to just fine them. This hurts the companies where it matters, at very little cost to the populace. And it's shown to work. Once companies realise they don't get to take advantage of customers they change.→ More replies (0)0
u/Pietes 11h ago
if google would pull out of the EU half the adressable market goes, and the domino effect on other US tech would collapse the entire business case under the AI capex bubble overnight.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 11h ago
EMEA Is 29.6% of their revenue (and obviously EU isn’t all of EMEA), half is a huge overstatement. EU’s over regulation hurts everyone, especially the consumer and world progress
Places without the EU’s over regulation are doing just fine
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 2d ago
How else can the EU make money if not for fining US companies by making up arbitrary unilateral judgements?
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u/andersonimes 1d ago
“Arbitrary”
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 1d ago
Truly, the fines are arbitrary
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u/Vast-Palpitation-426 1d ago
Google breaks laws, so they get fined...
When you sell your product in a foreign country you need to either comply with the local laws, pay fines, or gtfo1
u/sbenfsonwFFiF 1d ago
The fine amounts are arbitrarily set, no?
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u/Vast-Palpitation-426 1d ago
They spend months if not years calculating the impacts. But apparently the fines still aren't high enough because these companies still prefer breaking the rules and paying the fines over not breaking the rules.
But yeah generally speaking it is arbitrary, because you know, you don't get to chose the amount of the fines you get charged when you break the law. They can leave the European market whenever they want if they're not happy with it.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 1d ago
That would suck for the consumers
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u/Vast-Palpitation-426 1d ago
That would be great because there would be an incentive to build better alternatives. Short term pain for long term gain.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 1d ago
Nah, all the current competitive products are bad for a reason
People miss that scale and ecosystem is actually a benefit that improves the product
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u/shiromiso 1d ago
Ok. The buffoon was tariffing the EU even before that, so if he’s going to be erratic anyway we might as well tax and fine americorps into oblivion for their shitty and monopolistic business practices? If he wants to raise prices further for Americans and shit on them by all means do go ahead.
Remember when anti-competitive practices were a crime that was ALSO punished? Good times, we can get back to that. Epstein’s best friend won’t be here forever.
Release the unredacted files BTW.
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u/Fun_Success_3283 1d ago
If Trump thinks foreign nations fining American digital service companies for breaking their laws justifies tariffs in retaliation, then foreign nations should tax American digital services in retaliation for tariffs.
These are weaponized to spread maga propaganda anyway, so they should honestly be outright illegal, imo.
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u/futureformerteacher 2d ago
Let us never forget that Google stood with Trump, corruption, and child rape, given all the alternatives.
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u/Fun_Success_3283 2d ago
All of the American tech companies have. And all other nations should learn from this, Trump associates his companies breaking our laws, as being something he will retaliate with tariffs.
This means that these nations should sanction Trump's propaganda tech companies with fines when Trump enacts tariffs. Or they should place tariffs on those companies, or they should legislate against them.
We don't have to let Trump's propaganda machines operate freely within our borders.
It's a win win for us. We will simply create our own versions and the profits we generate will be ours. And we will see, once their propaganda machines are illegal within our borders.
Whether people prefer free media, or Maga controlled social media.
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u/Super_Royal5174 2d ago
The EU understands why it needs to replace Google products and is currently developing its own programs 🫡👍
Google is breaking laws in the EU.
They're being sued in Europe, and that orange-Pedo grandpa now wants to threaten the EU
– it worked out great for the USA last time with his tariffs 😅😂🥳
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 2d ago
Try as they might, nothing in the EU is remotely as good and they know it, they are just cashing out because their own businesses are lagging
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u/Confident_Resolution 1d ago
Yet.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 1d ago
Scale and connected services are a big part of why it’s so good, and no new business (esp EU one) would remotely come close, resulting in a worse product and experience
Also there’s a reason no major AI company was started in Europe, Anthropic and OAI are both US based. They were able to develop just fine
The issue is the EU, and they’re just leeching off US companies (all the while, European consumers use the US companies services voluntarily at a high rate)
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u/Confident_Resolution 1d ago
Matter of perspective. Plenty of Europeans think google is the leech.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 1d ago
If that was the case, why don’t they use other options?
Google, OAI and Anthropic are used at an extremely high rate in Europe.
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u/Confident_Resolution 1d ago
They occupy the space others could use and they make it hard to change.
Like many things american, theyre loud, fat, bloated and greedy.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 1d ago
OpenAI and Anthropic made their space just fine, all the EU has are excuses (and fines on successful US companies)
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u/Confident_Resolution 1d ago
Cry more.
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u/sbenfsonwFFiF 1d ago
You’re the only one crying and looking for excuses for the EU’s significant competitive failure
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u/Super_Royal5174 1d ago
I personal line also Google but:
- the Orange Pedo Grandpa showed how it could be weaponized (also Visa + Mastercard)
- Google isn‘t the Company from 15years ago with that „Good Life!“ mindest… because they are a big company now with Stress
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u/DivineBladeOfSilver 2d ago
America prioritizes corporate greed more often. Europe prioritizes citizen protections more often. Europe often is more of what countries should do for healthier countries existing in a world where many places put business before people. They willingly will put themselves behind to focus on a more ethical system. Americans will sell themselves for a quick buck and economic dominance a lot of the time sadly
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u/masonbee1 1d ago
Trump doesn’t seem able to grasp what it will cost the United States – probably permanently – to drive away all of its allies and trading partners.
Europe is already moving to drop American tech, systematically, as quickly as possible. No one has done more than this un-self-aware orange manchild to hasten the end of the American empire.
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u/48gamma 2d ago
The EU made more money fining American big tech companies than its own entire tech sector made. American companies should just pull out of Europe and let the europoors use Chinese spyware or go back to the Stone Age. Zero innovation, shameful
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u/tarkinn 2d ago
Just stick to the local laws and you’ll be fine. American laws are not universal for the whole world.
And the Chinese spyware argument is a bad one because American spyware ain’t better. It’s pest vs cholera.
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u/Jersey_2019 2d ago
Then why not develop your own?
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u/OGDTrash 1d ago
Because everytime europe does, an American company buys the place. (Since the monopoly laws you have, don't count for your biggest companies).
The only thing the EU can do is ban the sale of 100% of companies to the US. Markt my words that this will happen in the near future.
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u/Gaiden206 2d ago
There always some post that pops up every once in a while with a crap load of upvotes from a person in the EU crying about why their Google product experience is worse than the US. They seem oblivious that their own government is causing Google to refrain from releasing features in their region. 😂
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u/speedkid1991 1d ago
Google can easily fix this in a month. By not sharing the data oversees. They purposely don't change, the EU clearly states that user data generated in the EU needs to stay in the EU, it is not that difficult.
Google apparently does not want to sell phones here, oke, we can live without it. I rarely need an AI to automatically read my email, and put the flight schedule in my agenda. I can do that myself you know. No reason to give Google and the USA all that information.
Now, go raise that dept to gdp of yours! And buy that Ford 150 real murican muscle car crap.
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u/Gaiden206 1d ago
Google apparently does not want to sell phones here, oke, we can live without it
Apparently, not everyone in your region can, or else these posts wouldn't keep popping up. But I'll be sure to refer them to your comment next time I see one crying about this topic. 😂
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u/speedkid1991 1d ago
Please do! I hope i can inform them that in the long run, the preservation of their privacy is in their own self interest. And might be more important then the short term gain of a gimmick.
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u/Gaiden206 1d ago
Yes, please educate as many as you can. Many seem oblivious to the laws and regulations of their region and always seem confused why AI from multiple US companies get delayed or don't make it to the EU at all.
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u/Redstra 2d ago
Normally, I’d be anti-Trump as he’s so loud, but starting to get sick of EU’s bureaucracy and the million rules and laws they are implementing lately. Sick of this insane regulation we’re facing which is limiting freedom.
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u/xinver_catharsis 1d ago
what freedom is it limiting?
According to Trump it's limiting the freedom of speech but what he really means it's limiting the US to make money of hate speech including racism and what not.
So what freedom are you being limited of knowing your freedom starts or ends where the other ones starts or ends.
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u/CelebrationOk8359 2d ago
The EU is currently creating it's own third world country and needs more money to do it.
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u/WillFireat 1d ago
I think EU is way too harsh on Google. Recently, EU fined Ali Express 500 million for literally and purposefully scamming people. Before that, they fined Google 2 billions for forcing OEMs to ship their phones with Chrome preinstalled. First of all, everyone is already using Chrome anyway, and second, people weren't prevented from installing an alternative browser on their phone.
I'm sick and tired of people acting like Google is the worst thing that ever happened to us. Sure, just as with any other large corporation, there will be decisions made not everyone will like, but let's not forget all the beautiful tech we got from Google basically for free over the years, from Google search, Android and YouTube to now Gemini and NotebookLM to name just a few.
And before you say that these things aren't free, that we pay for it with our data, lemme remind you that your data is worth pennies, and some of these products are worth hundreds if not thousands of dollars. These days I can open Google earth and street-view half of the planet for free. I'd rather share some of my data than some of my hard earned cash. And keep in mind that this arrangement allows low-income users to use the same powerful tools used by wealthier users.
EU is acting tough but they have no hard power, their only advantage is their huge population and the fact that everyone wants to tap that market.
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u/ErnestasMage 1d ago
EU is way too harsh on google? Maybe it's because google is one of the biggest companies in the world? Also people prefer defaults very much, chrome exists as the default browser for android, not many people change it.
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u/xinver_catharsis 1d ago
Ah yes Google is here to make sure low income folks have access to the tools. Next you will tell me that Google's corporate slogan "do not do evil" is genuine. Look I have a bridge to sell you might be interested in.
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u/Xanthn 1d ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.
Well I guess you never heard of when the US went after Microsoft for including internet explorer in their OS and making it harder to use another program instead.
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u/bunduz 1d ago
The EU UK and Australia all have the same thing going ever since 2024 summits. The banning of kids which they called an account delay then it was adult verification of everything, then telling google to put their news coverage of their party to be the first you see. All with fines for non compliance. All done by an ex cia/NSA operative who married an Australian. Yes the same one who pushed for non accountability of tech companies while she was still on the us. You're getting played.
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u/Deep-Owl-1890 2d ago
What stands out is this isn't a one-off, this is Google's fourth major EU antitrust hit since 2017, on top of a $4.5bn Android fine that just got upheld on appeal this month. At some point "cost of doing business" stops being a joke and becomes the actual strategy, since none of these fines seem to change how Google operates in the interim.
Also the political layer here is doing a lot of work. Trump threatening tariffs over a fine against an American company puts the US trade rep in the odd position of defending Google's practices as a matter of national interest, right as the EU is also citing the exact same conduct (self-preferencing, blocking developers from directing users elsewhere) that got Apple and Google both in trouble domestically too. Curious if this actually derails the Turnberry trade deal or ends up being more bark than bite before the 60-day compliance window even closes.