"Competition Obstruction"... Turkey Fines Google 20.4 Billion KRW for 'Accommodation Search'

by Oh Suyon

Published 10 Jun.2024 20:37(KST)

The Turkish government has imposed a fine of 482 million lira (approximately 20.4 billion KRW) on the big tech company Google.

According to the state-run TRT Haber broadcast on the 10th (local time), the Turkish Competition Authority decided to impose the fine on Google for unfairly operating local and accommodation search services within Turkey.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The authority viewed that Google, which holds a dominant position in the general search service market, hindered competition by favoring its own search results related to accommodation price comparisons over competitors in the search bar. Although corrective measures were previously requested from Google, this fine was imposed due to delays in some improvements.

Since 2021, the Turkish government has been strengthening regulations, including mandating major social networking service (SNS) companies to operate representative offices within Turkey. Last month, the government imposed a fine of 898 million lira (approximately 38.1 billion KRW) on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, operated by the American company Meta, for integrating user personal information and hindering competitors' activities.