Report: Google to create new online shopping unit after EU fine

Google will create a separate unit for its comparison shopping tool to satisfy European Union regulators who hit the tech giant with a $2.8 billion antitrust fine this summer, Bloomberg reports.

According to the report, the comparison shopping service will still be a part of Google but will be housed in a new department apart from the company’s internet search business. The unit will be required to bid against rival services for top spots in Google’s search results.

Google’s comparison shopping service will be run separately and the company won’t be allowed to subsidize its bids for search result placement.

The EU fined Google in June for favoring its own comparison shopping service in search algorithms. Authorities gave the company a Sept. 28 deadline to change their practices to give competitors a level playing field.

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Earlier reports said that another part of Google’s proposed remedy would be to auction off search result placements and set a price cap on their own bids.