Google Hit with Record Fine Over Anti-Competitive Product Promotion

Google has been handed a record fine for aggressively pushing its own products over competitors in search results, the latest major antitrust action against the U.S. tech giant. The penalty is part of a broader global regulatory push to curb the market dominance of large technology platforms, which critics argue use their scale to unfairly disadvantage rivals. Despite geopolitical turbulence — including economic disruption caused by tensions between Iran and the United States — global stock markets posted solid gains in the first half of the year. South Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese indices led worldwide growth, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 18 percent and the broader U.S. S&P 500 index gained 10 percent. Europe's Stoxx 600 index also recorded a respectable 7 percent increase, defying expectations of a more severe economic slowdown.