Alphabet Inc. — the parent company of multifaceted tech giant Google — has been hit with a massive €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) fine by the European Union’s antitrust regulator for favoring its own shopping service over competitors in search results.

The penalty was more than double the previous record for an EU fine, when Intel was slapped with a €1.06 billion fine in 2009.

“Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results, and demoting those of competitors,” said Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief. “What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules.”

Also Read: Google Dominance: Alphabet Tops $1,000 Milestone

The EU looked into years of data before levying the fine, focusing on the company’s promotion of its shopping options above its competitors for user searches. Google — which has more than 90 percent of the search engine marketshare in Europe — was said to be abusing its power and dampening competition by pushing its shopping results ahead of its rivals.

Google now has 90 days to change how it presents search results or it’ll have to pay daily “penalty payments” of up to 5 percent of its daily worldwide income.

“When you use Google to search for products, we try to give you what you’re looking for,” said Google Senior Vice President Kent Walker in a statement following the ruling. “Our ability to do that well isn’t favoring ourselves, or any particular site or seller–it’s the result of hard work and constant innovation, based on user feedback.”

While the fine will put a strain on the already contentious relationship between Silicon Valley and the EU, other companies are applauding the decision.

Also Read: Bill Maher Calls Apple, Google, Facebook 'Essentially Drug Dealers' for Addictive Kids' Apps (Video)

“We applaud the European Commission’s leadership in confronting the discriminatory behavior of Google in the comparison shopping industry,” said a News Corp. in a statement on the ruling. “Other regulators and companies have been intimidated by Google’s overwhelming might, but the Commission has taken a strong stand and we hope that this is the first step in remedying Google’s shameless abuse of its dominance in search.”

After several complaints from competing businesses, the EU opened its investigation into Google’s practices in 2015. The anti-trust violation now opens Google up to battles on two fronts: companies affected by its search results can now bring them to court, and Vestager hinted the EU may check if Google used its power to illegally sway consumers in other ways.

“We have been looking into this, and today’s decision is a precedent, a precedent that can be used as a framework to analyse the legality of such conduct,” said Vestiger. “Today’s decision shows in Europe companies must compete on their merits, regardless of whether they operate online or on the high streets, regardless of whether they are European or not.”

The financial pain may not be over for Google, either — it’s facing two additional investigations from the EU into its AdSense and Android businesses.

'Minority Report' and 18 More Movies That Accurately Predicted Future Tech (Photos)

Steven Spielberg's tech-heavy "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise, is now 15 years old. Considered one of the most prescient sci-fi movies to grace the big screen, it predicted multiple future innovations, including facial recognition, personalize advertising and predictive crime fighting. In honor of the movie's anniversary, click through here to revisit 18 more movies that accurately peered into the future of technology:
20th Century Fox
We're so used to touch screens at this point -- we use them every day on our smart phones, and even at McDonald's -- that it's easy to forget that Tom Cruise used the technology in "Minority Report."
20th Century Fox
Long before Siri, there was HAL. The ominous yet soft-spoken computer system was the antagonist in 1968's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Stanley Kubrick's sinister talking computer ended up turning on its crew in a Siri user's worst nightmare.
MGM
Tech giant Elon Musk is at the helm of SpaceX, which will send two tourists to space in 2018. But "2001: A Space Odyssey" imagined commercial space travel decades ago.
MGM
Elon Musk, Google and Uber have been duking it out to bring self-driving cars to the masses, but Arnold Schwarzenegger might have jumpstarted the competition when he took a robot-controlled ride in 1990's "Total Recall."
TriStar Pictures
"The Terminator" predicted military drones in 1984 -- long before they were introduced to police forces and militaries.
Orion Pictures
Virtual reality is taking over the tech scene. You can play games in VR, watch movies and experience Coachella all from the comfort of your living room. But Hollywood predicted we'd have VR more than 20 years ago in 1992's "Lawnmower Man."
New Line Cinema
The 1982 cult classic "Blade Runner," starring Harrison Ford, predicted digital billboards, which you can see now all over the country, from Times Square in New York to the Vegas strip.
Warner Bros.
Remember when the TSA rolled out invasive body scanners and a lot of people freaked out? "Airplane II: The Sequel" imagined airport scanners that revealed a person's naked body to agents.
Paramount Pictures
Just like other industries, robots are taking over jobs in the military, too. There are even listicles outlining the "coolest" military robots. "Short Circuit" predicted this technology with the prototype robot Number 5.
Tristar pictures
Woody Allen's "Sleeper" had robots assisting surgeons by offering advice during surgery. Today, doctors use robotics to add precision to procedures.
United Artists
The beloved 1960s cartoon "The Jetsons" -- which was made into a movie in 1990 -- predicted the use of robots to clean homes. They had a robotic vacuum and a robotic maid. Can you say Roomba?
ABC
In vitro fertilization and at-home genetic testing are common place these days. "Gattaca," with Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, predicted this tech in 1997.
Columbia Pictures
3D printing is used today in industries ranging from aerospace to medical. In "Weird Science," the boys 3D printed an actual girl.

Also Read: From ‘E.T.’ to ‘Explorers': When Kids Ruled the Big Screen (Photos)
Universal Pictures
We know how dangerous cyber warfare is, and countless companies have been hacked recently. 1983's "WarGames" with Matthew Broderick is all about a kid who walks the line between gaming and reality.
MGM
FaceTime, and Skype before it, are commonplace today. But it was cool new technology in 1989's "Back to the Future Part II."
Universal Pictures
There are a ton of different options out there for smart watches. This was predicted in 1990's "Dick Tracy."
Touchstone Pictures
It's so easy to order Domino's online -- you can even watch how far along in the process your pizza is. In 1995's "The Net" with Sandra Bullock, they showed ordering pizza online for the first time.
Columbia Pictures
Tinder, Bumble and OKCupid are only a few of the many, many online dating options out there. But Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks were on the forefront of the online dating trend in "You've Got Mail."
Warner Bros.
VR porn is growing in popularity. Or as it's called in 1993's "Demolition Man" -- "digitized transference of sexual energies."
Warner Bros.
The 1929 movie "Woman in the Moon" predicted space travel. Obviously, we hit that milestone decades ago. And hey, they even got the shuttle shape right!

Also Read: ‘Top Gun': 30 Things You Didn’t Know About the Tom Cruise Classic (Photos)
Fritz Lang Film

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From robotic vacuums to smart watches, Hollywood got these tech trends right

Steven Spielberg's tech-heavy "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise, is now 15 years old. Considered one of the most prescient sci-fi movies to grace the big screen, it predicted multiple future innovations, including facial recognition, personalize advertising and predictive crime fighting. In honor of the movie's anniversary, click through here to revisit 18 more movies that accurately peered into the future of technology:

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