Turkey’s Competition Board has launched an investigation into several Google companies after concluding in its preliminary findings that a complaint arguing its search results violate Turkish competition regulations requires further assessment, the Hürriyet Daily News reported on Friday.
Upon the submission of the complaint last month, the board initiated a probe into four Google companies registered variously in the US, the EU and Turkey, namely Google Reklamcılık ve Pazarlama Ltd Şti, Google International LLC, Google LLC and Google Ireland Limited.
The complaint stated that Google “abuses its dominant position in the search engine market, making the business of its competitors in online shopping harder.”
Google will present its defense in another case before Turkey’s Competition Board on Aug. 28 concerning its Android operating system and apps.
Google was hit with a record-breaking 4.3 billion euro fine from the European Union last month for anticompetitive ”illegal practices” relating to its Android operating system.
The latest charge takes the total fine from the EU’s recent antitrust investigations to $6.7 billion, and Google may be hit by yet another substantial fine when the third investigation concludes.
