BRUSSELS—Google rejected on Thursday a complaint by Europe’s competition watchdog that the Internet giant is abusing its dominance in Web searches to promote its own products.
The European Commission (EC), the European Union’s executive body, alleged in April that Google has improperly favored its shopping- comparison service in its own search results, in a high-stakes case that could lead to billions of euros in fines.
Google Senior Vice President Kent Walker said in a blog post that the commission’s conclusions “are wrong as a matter of fact, law and economics.”
Google said it submitted a rebuttal of the EC’s case of around 150 pages with economic, data and legal analysis to back up its position.
The commission aims to ensure fair competition in the 28-nation EU, and it is concerned about Google’s dominant market position. The company processes about 90 percent of the searches in the EU, compared to 66 percent in the US.
Critics contend that online consumers are unable to see compelling alternatives from other merchants who either refuse or can’t afford to pay to be catapulted into a high spot in Google’s shopping rankings.
Google charges merchants to be in its shopping results, unlike its general index that logs links from all web sites.