Brussels/Frankfurt — Beyond a headline-grabbing €2.4bn fine EU antitrust regulators have levelled against Google, the internet giant is likely to be shackled for years by Tuesday’s precedent-setting decision defining the company as a monopoly. The ruling opens the door for further regulatory actions against more crucial parts of Google’s business — cellphones, online advert buying and specialised search categories such as travel — while easing the standard of proof for rivals to mount civil lawsuits showing Google has harmed them. So far, investors have shrugged off the EU’s threatened crackdown, with Google’s holding company Alphabet’s shares down 1.8% in early US trade amid a continued sell-off in technology stocks. The stock has doubled in the two years since European authorities vigorously stepped up investigations of it. It trades just behind rival Apple as the world’s most valuable stock, with a $666bn market capitalisation. The real sting is not from the fine for anticompetit...
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