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> Can Google just close shop in the EU and ignore the fine? Sure, if they don't want to get any revenue from the whole European Union anymore. Fortunately the

> Can Google just close shop in the EU and ignore the fine? Sure, if they don't want to get any revenue from the whole European Union anymore. Fortunately the EU is a big enough market so that Google doesn't have any leverage here.

garmaine 8y ago
Other commentators are saying the fine is between 1/3 to a half of google’s profits. I sincerely doubt the EU represents more than that share of google’s revenues. But of course I doubt they would pull out as this is a one time thing.
- nl 8y ago
  You are comparing a proportion of one year of Google's profit and all EU revenue for all time.
  - frockington 8y ago
    Couldn't they still generate revenue from ads and services in Europe? The EU could block Android phones but its not like they are going to build a firewall.
    - nl 8y ago
      They can block all financial transactions so no EU business can use them.
- Radle 8y ago
  Google's profits are a bit weird right now, thanks to the new us tax law. (I wrote more about that at the end) Their 2016 profit was $19.4 billion and without the one-time foreign asset charge it would have been $22,4 billion, as such the fine compromises less than 1/4 of googles earnings. Their European revenue was $22.6 billion out of $90 billion total revenue for 2016. This makes it look like an incredible high fine. It's important to notice that the revenue in Europe is mostly google ads. The total revenue for alphabet is also bloated by thing stuff like other bet, which produce $400 million revenue and $900 million loss. Or to put it more bluntly, the revenue in Europe has a stronger influence on alphabets profits than the revenue in the USA. I still think the fine is incredible high, one reason for this might be a lack of commitment from google after they were fined for $2.4 billion last year. This being the second time google breaks European anti trust laws. In a really short time. Last year they were fined for what Brusels describe like this in their press released: Since the beginning of each abuse, Google's comparison shopping service has increased its traffic 45-fold in the United Kingdom, 35-fold in Germany, 19-fold in France, 29-fold in the Netherlands, 17-fold in Spain and 14-fold in Italy. ---- A bit more on why google earnings are weird: "For the quarter of 2017 that ended on December 31, 2017, it actually recorded a loss of $3 billion, but that was due to a one-time foreign assets charge due to the recently passed U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. If that is excluded, Alphabet would have had net income of $6.8 billion, up from $5.3 billion compared to a year ago. " yearly "For the entire 2017 fiscal year, Alphabet recorded revenues of $110.8 billion, up from $90 billion in 2016. Net income was $12.6 billion for the 2017 fiscal year, compared to $19.4 billion in revenues in 2016, once again reflecting the one time charge due to the tax law change." src: https://www.androidauthority.com/alphabet-q4-2017-earnings-834774/ https://www.androidauthority.com/alphabet-q4-2017-earnings-8... 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... http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-1784_en.htm http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-1784_en.htm

garmaine 8y ago

Other commentators are saying the fine is between 1/3 to a half of google’s profits. I sincerely doubt the EU represents more than that share of google’s revenues. But of course I doubt they would pull out as this is a one time thing.

nl 8y ago
You are comparing a proportion of one year of Google's profit and all EU revenue for all time.
- frockington 8y ago
  Couldn't they still generate revenue from ads and services in Europe? The EU could block Android phones but its not like they are going to build a firewall.
  - nl 8y ago
    They can block all financial transactions so no EU business can use them.
Radle 8y ago
Google's profits are a bit weird right now, thanks to the new us tax law. (I wrote more about that at the end) Their 2016 profit was $19.4 billion and without the one-time foreign asset charge it would have been $22,4 billion, as such the fine compromises less than 1/4 of googles earnings. Their European revenue was $22.6 billion out of $90 billion total revenue for 2016. This makes it look like an incredible high fine. It's important to notice that the revenue in Europe is mostly google ads. The total revenue for alphabet is also bloated by thing stuff like other bet, which produce $400 million revenue and $900 million loss. Or to put it more bluntly, the revenue in Europe has a stronger influence on alphabets profits than the revenue in the USA. I still think the fine is incredible high, one reason for this might be a lack of commitment from google after they were fined for $2.4 billion last year. This being the second time google breaks European anti trust laws. In a really short time. Last year they were fined for what Brusels describe like this in their press released: Since the beginning of each abuse, Google's comparison shopping service has increased its traffic 45-fold in the United Kingdom, 35-fold in Germany, 19-fold in France, 29-fold in the Netherlands, 17-fold in Spain and 14-fold in Italy. ---- A bit more on why google earnings are weird: "For the quarter of 2017 that ended on December 31, 2017, it actually recorded a loss of $3 billion, but that was due to a one-time foreign assets charge due to the recently passed U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. If that is excluded, Alphabet would have had net income of $6.8 billion, up from $5.3 billion compared to a year ago. " yearly "For the entire 2017 fiscal year, Alphabet recorded revenues of $110.8 billion, up from $90 billion in 2016. Net income was $12.6 billion for the 2017 fiscal year, compared to $19.4 billion in revenues in 2016, once again reflecting the one time charge due to the tax law change." src: https://www.androidauthority.com/alphabet-q4-2017-earnings-834774/ https://www.androidauthority.com/alphabet-q4-2017-earnings-8... 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... http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-1784_en.htm http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-1784_en.htm