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what's stopping google from shutting up shop in the EU. would they have to block EU access? how much revenue do they make from EU clients?

munchor 9y ago
What about the thousands of people they hire across their multiple offices in the EU?
flexie 9y ago
Business is what is stopping Google from not servicing Europe. Google makes huge part of its profit on search in Europe and pays almost no tax in Europe. If Google stopped servicing Europe, one or more European competitors would emerge in days or weeks and Google's dominance would be threatened worldwide within months. It would be a completely suicidal move.
- cJ0th 9y ago
  Yeah, it seems "search" isn't as untouchable as it used to be. Qwant, for instance, may not be a 100% there but it is quite good. https://www.qwant.com/ https://www.qwant.com/
  - zepto 9y ago
    What are you taking about? Any Google Search competitor needs to be seriously better than google in order to stand a chance, ‘not 100% there’ is equivalent to not there at all. Moreover Qwant is just bing search results repackaged.
    - cJ0th 9y ago
      > Moreover Qwant is just bing search results repackaged. Not in France and Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwant#Criticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwant#Criticism
Inconel 9y ago
Considering how big the EU market is I'm sure the profit Google derives from it is many times this judgement.
- jlebrech 9y ago
  so EU can keep knocking on their door because google has no choice but to pay up?
  - calcifer 9y ago
    Why shouldn't the EU keep knocking on Google's door if it keeps violating the law? Especially a law that protects the livelihoods of EU citizens.
  - matthewmacleod 9y ago
    Well, they could consider not engaging in uncompetitive practices. The thing is, if they want to do business in the EU they have to abide by the rules of the EU. It's not that complex!
    - xorium 9y ago
      It's not that complex! Corporate law is extremely complex.
      - matthewmacleod 9y ago
        That's a glib answer. Google is free to continue doing business in the EU and is does not 'have no choice but to pay up'. That's simple.
        jlebrech 9y ago
        I think the more "complex" the EU tries to make it in order to extract money from big corps the harder it can also be for smaller firms if those rules apply to those also.
Jach 9y ago
It'll get factored as a cost of business. If the cost of business exceeds the benefit, then they'll close down their EU operations. Otherwise, it sucks they're not making as much money as they want/should, but they're making enough to continue for now. The fine is both large enough and small enough that it probably won't act as much of a deterrent but rather an incentive to more closely study EU rules to see what more they can/can't get away with, and whether they can use any of their knowledge against potential competitors to stomp them out.
Maarten88 9y ago
> how much revenue do they make from EU clients? The EU economy is bigger than that of the US and Google's position in EU is more dominant. Bing doesn't work well for Europeans, there are no real competitors. Maybe the US market has more marketing spending, compared to Europe. My guess would be that Google makes about the same in the EU as it does in the US.
Magnets 9y ago
1/3 of global revenue in 2016 for EMEA https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/04/google-pays-47m-euros-tax-ireland-22bn-euros-revenue https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/04/google-pays...
jpalomaki 9y ago
It is not just the revenue they make from EU. Closing the shop in Europe would leave the market for somebody else. With such a large market left for others, some competitor could gain significant momentum and threaten Google's position in US and other places as well.
ionised 9y ago
> how much revenue do they make from EU clients? Nearly as much as in the US, with the potential to be even higher.

munchor 9y ago

What about the thousands of people they hire across their multiple offices in the EU?

flexie 9y ago

Business is what is stopping Google from not servicing Europe. Google makes huge part of its profit on search in Europe and pays almost no tax in Europe. If Google stopped servicing Europe, one or more European competitors would emerge in days or weeks and Google's dominance would be threatened worldwide within months. It would be a completely suicidal move.

cJ0th 9y ago
Yeah, it seems "search" isn't as untouchable as it used to be. Qwant, for instance, may not be a 100% there but it is quite good. https://www.qwant.com/ https://www.qwant.com/
- zepto 9y ago
  What are you taking about? Any Google Search competitor needs to be seriously better than google in order to stand a chance, ‘not 100% there’ is equivalent to not there at all. Moreover Qwant is just bing search results repackaged.
  - cJ0th 9y ago
    > Moreover Qwant is just bing search results repackaged. Not in France and Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwant#Criticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwant#Criticism

Inconel 9y ago

Considering how big the EU market is I'm sure the profit Google derives from it is many times this judgement.

jlebrech 9y ago
so EU can keep knocking on their door because google has no choice but to pay up?
- calcifer 9y ago
  Why shouldn't the EU keep knocking on Google's door if it keeps violating the law? Especially a law that protects the livelihoods of EU citizens.
- matthewmacleod 9y ago
  Well, they could consider not engaging in uncompetitive practices. The thing is, if they want to do business in the EU they have to abide by the rules of the EU. It's not that complex!
  - xorium 9y ago
    It's not that complex! Corporate law is extremely complex.
    - matthewmacleod 9y ago
      That's a glib answer. Google is free to continue doing business in the EU and is does not 'have no choice but to pay up'. That's simple.
      - jlebrech 9y ago
        I think the more "complex" the EU tries to make it in order to extract money from big corps the harder it can also be for smaller firms if those rules apply to those also.

Jach 9y ago

It'll get factored as a cost of business. If the cost of business exceeds the benefit, then they'll close down their EU operations. Otherwise, it sucks they're not making as much money as they want/should, but they're making enough to continue for now. The fine is both large enough and small enough that it probably won't act as much of a deterrent but rather an incentive to more closely study EU rules to see what more they can/can't get away with, and whether they can use any of their knowledge against potential competitors to stomp them out.

Maarten88 9y ago

> how much revenue do they make from EU clients? The EU economy is bigger than that of the US and Google's position in EU is more dominant. Bing doesn't work well for Europeans, there are no real competitors. Maybe the US market has more marketing spending, compared to Europe. My guess would be that Google makes about the same in the EU as it does in the US.

Magnets 9y ago

1/3 of global revenue in 2016 for EMEA https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/04/google-pays-47m-euros-tax-ireland-22bn-euros-revenue https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/04/google-pays...

jpalomaki 9y ago

It is not just the revenue they make from EU. Closing the shop in Europe would leave the market for somebody else. With such a large market left for others, some competitor could gain significant momentum and threaten Google's position in US and other places as well.

ionised 9y ago

> how much revenue do they make from EU clients? Nearly as much as in the US, with the potential to be even higher.