Google’s record EU fine won’t just punish Google. It will quietly shrink what European taxpayers owe Brussels.
THE SO WHAT
Google’s €4.6bn antitrust payment flowing straight into the EU budget is a reminder that big-tech enforcement is now a material line item in public finance, not just a deterrent. For operators, the takeaway is simple: regulatory risk is becoming a quasi-tax on digital scale in Europe—model it explicitly in your expansion and pricing plans.
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