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1. Is the European Commission justified in its case against Google? Why or why not?

Indeed, the European Commission is justified in its case against Google. The allegations of market position abuse and breach of anti-trust laws, specifically related to unfair competition, present a clear case for intervention. Google's dominant position in the tech market, driven by its search engine and apps, raised concerns about anti-competitive behavior. The Commission argued that Google's actions harmed other businesses, especially smaller entities, and created an unfair advantage by limiting consumer choices.

While market dominance itself is not illegal under EU antitrust rules, dominant companies bear a special responsibility not to abuse their powerful position. The investigation revealed that Google abused its market dominance as a search engine to promote its own comparison-shopping service in search results, unfairly demoting those of rivals. This behavior goes against the principles of fair competition and is deemed illegal under EU antitrust rules. The impact on user clicks and traffic further substantiates the case against Google.

The Commission's findings, including real-world consumer behavior studies, surveys, and eye-tracking studies, provide concrete evidence supporting the claim that Google's actions were not competition on the merits but rather an attempt to manipulate search results to its advantage. Therefore, the European Commission's decision to take action against Google is well-founded and serves to maintain a fair and competitive market environment.