In Europe, Challenges for Google

Google has a problem in China. But it may have bigger headaches in Europe.

On issues as varied as privacy, copyright protection and the dominance of Google's Internet search engine, the company is clashing with lawmakers, regulators and consumer advocates. And the fights are escalating across Western Europe. The stakes are high — potentially higher for Google than anything that happens in China — because Google's operations in Europe are so much larger and more lucrative. In Britain alone, Google has roughly 10 times its estimated sales in China. Across most of the Continent, Google is by far the most popular search engine, with a substantially larger market share over its rivals than it has over those in the United States. Google's border-straddling scale and its brash ambitions raise alarms with some European politicians.

(Feb 1)