Google says strongly disagrees with EU Commission's competition probe

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Google Inc said on Wednesday it strongly disagreed with the European Commission which accused the U.S. company of distorting Internet searches in its favor and launched an antitrust probe into its mobile operating system Android. In a blog post, the company said the search results displayed for shopping queries had not harmed the competition and partner agreements with mobile phone operators were voluntary. "It's why we respectfully but strongly disagree with the need to issue a Statement of Objections and look forward to making our case over the weeks ahead," Google said in a blog post. The Commission, whose control of antitrust matters across the wealthy 28-nation bloc gives it a major say in the fate of global corporations, can fine firms up to 10 percent of their annual sales -- or a penalty of over $6 billion for Google. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; editing by Robin Emmott)