歐盟真能分拆谷歌嗎？

????不過，如果歐盟真的啟動違法追責，谷歌可能要為有違法行為的這幾年，繳納最高相當于全球年收入10%的罰款，也就是高達幾十億美元的天價。但是實際情況則要保守一些。歐盟歷史上最高一筆反壟斷罰款是幾年前針對英特爾（Intel）發動的，剛剛超過了英特爾全球年收入的4%——這還是歐盟最高法院提高罰金后的比例。

????帕普表示，如果將谷歌的搜索業務與廣告業務進行拆分，谷歌就沒法繼續通過搜索結果來賺錢。他認為這樣的舉動是“荒謬的”，理由是“谷歌搜索引擎之所以對用戶是免費的，就是因為谷歌可以從廣告商那里獲得收入，而且可以引導消費者直達他們的垂直搜索結果。就像報紙一樣，有些報紙之所以免費，是因為它可以高價賣廣告位?！?/p>

????巴爾托也認為拆分谷歌是一個只有少數人會認真考慮的“極端提案”。他表示：“谷歌非常依賴產品之間的協同增效，以及各種產品的廣告收入，這樣他們才能做他們所做的事?！比绻雀璧乃阉鳂I務與廣告服務“解綁”，消費者的利益可能會受到損害。

????對于此案牽涉的各方來說，政治因素仍然是一個痛點。歐盟議會這次行動的不同尋常之處在于，此次投票之前沒有進行任何質詢。布魯塞爾的反壟斷律師馬休?霍爾表示，支持和反對谷歌的各方都在此案中推動他們各自的解決方案。

????在擔任歐盟反壟斷負責人期間，阿爾穆尼亞曾明確聲稱，他不會受政治因素左右?，F在還不清楚維斯塔格爾最終會選擇走哪條路，打哪張牌。歐盟委員會的一位發言人表示：維斯塔格爾“首先要聽那些最直接受谷歌做法影響的人士的觀點，然后決定如何對谷歌商業行為采取進一步的反壟斷調查?！?/p>

????巴爾托還是比較樂觀的：“有好的跡象表明維斯塔格爾不會被左右，我不認為這種推遲會導致匆忙判決?！保ㄘ敻恢形木W）

????譯者：樸成奎

????Still, a move toward an infringement decision could leave Google facing fines of up to 10 percent of its annual global sales for the affected years, a staggering amount totaling billions of dollars. The reality has been more conservative. The biggest antitrust fine in the region’s history—levied against Intel years ago but later upped by Europe’s top court—barely broke 4 percent.

????Splitting up Google by unbundling its search business from its advertising business would leave the company without a way to make money from its search results, Wagner-von Papp says. Such a move is “nonsense,” he says. “The search engine can be free for users only because Google gets its revenue from advertisers and can channel consumers to their vertical search results,” he says, “much like newspapers can be free if it sells ad space for a high price.”

????Balto agrees, calling it an “extreme proposal” that few people take seriously. “Google relies on a lot of synergies among products and advertising revenue that works across products to do what they do,” he says. Consumers would actually suffer if Google’s search business was unbundled from its advertising services.

????Politics remain a sore point for those involved. The European Parliament’s involvement was unusual without any prior committee inquiry, Brussels-based antitrust solicitor Matthew Hall says, and the parties on each side of Google are pushing for their own resolution to the case.

????During his tenure as Europe’s antitrust chief, Almunia made it clear that he would not be swayed by politics. It’s not yet clear which path Vestager plans to take or which cards she will play to get there. Vestager will “decide on how to take the ongoing antitrust investigations into Google’s business practices forward once she has heard what those most directly affected by the practices in question have to say,” a spokesperson for the European Commission says.

????Balto is optimistic. “There are good signs that Vestager will not be swayed,” he says. “I don’t think the delay will lead to a rush to judgment.”