By Xinhua News Agency

The European Commission announced on Wednesday that U.S. tech giant Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has violated the Digital Markets Act (DMA) through practices related to its Google Search service and Google Play Store. If the violations are upheld, the company could face substantial fines.

The Commission issued two preliminary findings, stating that Alphabet has been giving preferential treatment to its own services – such as shopping, hotel booking, transportation, and financial services – by ranking them higher in Google Search results than those of third-party providers. 

According to a statement, this practice is deemed non-compliant with the DMA’s stipulations. Regarding the Google Play Store, the Commission raised concerns that Alphabet imposes restrictions on app developers, restricting them from directing users to alternative platforms offering better deals. Additionally, it criticized Alphabet for charging excessively high fees to app developers for services such as customer acquisition via its app store.

Global annual revenue

Alphabet now has the opportunity to review the Commission’s case file and submit a written response to these preliminary findings. If the Commission upholds its assessment, it will issue a non-compliance decision. Under the DMA, violators can be fined up to 10 percent of their global annual revenue. The DMA, enforced to regulate the behavior of large digital “gatekeepers,” aims to ensure fair competition and offer more choices to consumers. In September 2023, the Commission designated Alphabet as a gatekeeper for its Google Search service and the Google Play Store on Android devices.

Responding to the findings, Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director of competition, stated in a blog post: “The Commission’s findings require us to make even more changes to how we show certain types of Search results, which would make it harder for people to find what they are looking for and reduce traffic to European businesses.”

By JULIUS MBALUTO

Women from diverse communities gathered at West Herts College to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day. They spoke about great things they do but their focus was on mental well-ness. The event was hosted by Spiced in Watford Cooking Experience founded by Eva Mbiru. It has been supported by Watford Football Club, Chamber of Commerce, Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care and Rotary Club.

The event was attended by Watford MP Matt Turmaine, PC Dani Howlett-Bolton -Community Engagement Officer, CLLR Rabi Martins, Guest Speaker Neelam Chalwa and others. Singer LadyPruu ensured all were entertained. The aim of Spiced in Watford cooking series is to create a conducive environment where anyone going through mental stress at home or workplace can meet other people going through the same to chat and socialize while cooking.Experts have argued that cooking activity can nourish the body, the mind and soul. Others see it as an experimental therapy.

Speaking during the meeting, MP for Watford Matt Turmaine said:

“We should remember what we think about International Women’s Day not just as one day of the year event but every day. Women have such a great hard time across the world, different regimes do not respect and treat women in the way that they should- in this country we struggle with what we call glass ceiling and equal pay even though its more than 50 years since equal pay was introduced by Barbara Castle and still, we don’t have equal pay. In relation to mental health, it’s a big health crisis and we really need to recognize that. There is a lot of health inequalities we experience that we have in the society. “

The MP said he is doing something to address that. The Guest Speaker Neelam Chalwa spoke on the importance of creating more awareness on Mental Health. She said,

“Tell people what mental health is. Mental health is not a negative word, it needs pampering. It needs looking after. “

She said although we cannot change the world, we should try to change the life even of one person. She urged all attending to prioritise looking after themselves to ensure their mental well-ness.

During the panel talk, different experts and leaders also in different fields shared about what they do and how they could be contacted in the future engagement. The key message to all women attending was to look after themselves and others for a better society.