Follow up to previous posting – Antitrust: Commission sends Statement of Objections to Google on comparison shopping service” via Mark Bergen – ReCode: “Google’s antitrust standoff with the European Union, a tumultuous legal tug-of-war begun in February 2010, reached a climax this morning with the EU laying the foundation for a formal complaint against Google for abusing its market position. Now what? Publicly, in a pair of statements echoing its internal memo, Google said it is readying a challenge to the accusations. But sources familiar with earlier EU antitrust cases against tech behemoths such as Microsoft and Intel say Google’s best bet is to settle, and do it soon. At the onset, the company’s defensive strategy is to downplay its dominance. Google released figures showing its popularity in European commerce searches, the center of the EU claim, is outmatched by Amazon, eBay and local rivals. It cited Yelp’s ascent in mobile search. It’s an attempt to undercut the EU’s case by proving that the Google services running parallel to search, like its shopping and travel aggregation products, don’t share its ubiquity. Microsoft tried a similar tactic when it faced EU charges for restricting browsers for Windows users, said multiple sources familiar with the company. And it did not hold water, even though Microsoft, as mobile exploded, quickly ceded its dominance. “We learned from the commission: You can’t fight them,” said one executive from Microsoft, which has shelled out fines to the EU totaling over $1.5 billion since 2012. “It’s better to put it behind you.”

• See also via NYT – Google’s Steely Foe in Europe