Google will on Wednesday be accused by Brussels of illegally abusing its dominance of the internet search market in Europe, a step that ultimately could force it to change its business model fundamentally and pay hefty fines.

Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner, is to say that the US group will soon be served with a formal charge sheet alleging that it breached antitrust rules by diverting traffic from rivals to favour its own services, according to two people familiar with the case. The initial charge will focus on product searches where Google is accused of harming other shopping sites, but could be extended to other areas.

Google confirmed the imminent charges in an internal email sent to staff on Tuesday. “We have a very strong case, with especially good arguments when it comes to better services for consumers and increased competition,” it said in the communication, a copy of which was obtained by the Financial Times.