EU throws new rule book at Google, tech giants in competition search

Brussels: Exasperated by its failure to loosen Google’s market grip, despite more than $8 billion in fines, the European Union is lining up new rules to level the playing field for rivals.

And just as its landmark privacy law became a global model, the EU’s new regulations could become a template for governments around the world looking to rein in Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.

Driven in large part by a conclusion that multiple antitrust actions against Google have been ineffectual, the EU’s new strategy aims to lay down ground rules for data-sharing and how digital marketplaces operate.