Google appeals $2.9 billion EU fine even as it plans fixes

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) - Google is appealing a $2.9 billion fine imposed by European Union regulators.

The EU had dinged the search giant for favoring shopping listings it gets paid for. Google's appeal comes even as it is working to comply with an order to give equal treatment to rival shopping services.

The appeal filed Monday was not made public. But Google's argument is expected to follow its June blog post in which it maintained that consumers expect to be taken directly to pages where they can buy products rather than to other online retailers where they may have to repeat searches.

Google also claimed it faces fierce competition from eBay and Amazon. It also submitted plans in August to give these rival online shopping services equal treatment to meet a second EU condition.