How Google 'Went From The Frying Pan Into The Fire' In Europe

Vernon Silver along with Brad Stone recently published a report on Bloomberg Businessweek titled, "Google’s $6 Billion Miscalculation on the EU", which explained how the deal Google Inc GOOG GOOGL cracked with European antitrust authorities has fallen apart and the company now might be facing fine up to $6 billion.

Silver was on Bloomberg TV on Thursday to explain what happened exactly since Eric Schmidt cut a deal with EU authorities 15 months ago.

The Deal Falls Apart

"There they were, they're in Davos, the cookies are on the table untouched," Silver began. "Two hours later they walk out with a handshake deal, Eric Schmidt thinks he has essentially got it in the bag. Fifteen months later, the whole thing falls apart and they have to start from scratch. And the reasons are manifold, but really they got the one-two punch of increasing anti-Google sentiment in Europe and competition."

Related Link: Facebook Dealt A Blow In Europe's Privacy Case

He continued, "Usually it's Microsoft versus Google, they were watching out for Microsoft, but it turned out to be the Germans and particularly the German publishers, they have ramped up their opposition to Google and its dealings in Europe and they were blindsided."

How It Happened

Silver explained how things went wrong for Google since the first deal, saying, "What happened was time ran out on the first deal, it crumbles, and they essentially went from the frying pan into the fire."

"The new antitrust, the new competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager -- who is a Danish politician who has been no-nonsense -- the first thing she did when she came into office, she asked Google's competitors to start lining up and give her the reasons that she should crack down. And now they're essentially facing an indictment, it's not a criminal thing, but there are fines," Silver said.