Google wins appeal, EU's €1.49 billion antitrust fine dropped
Google has emerged victorious in its legal battle against a €1.49 billion antitrust fine, initially imposed by the European Commission five years ago. The tech giant was accused of stifling competition in online search advertising and favoring its own AdSense platform over other brokers for search ads, from 2006 to 2016. This ruling comes just a week after Google lost another significant case related to similar charges.
General Court annuls fine due to incomplete assessment
The Luxembourg-based General Court mostly concurred with the European Union competition enforcer's evaluation of the case, but decided to nullify the fine. The court stated that "it had failed to take into account all the relevant circumstances in its assessment of the duration of the contractual clauses that it had found to be unfair."
AdSense fine was triggered by Microsoft's complaint
The AdSense fine, now annulled, was one of three penalties that collectively cost Google €8.25 billion. It originated from a complaint lodged by Microsoft in 2010. In response to these allegations and subsequent legal proceedings, Google has stated that it amended the targeted contracts in 2016 prior to the Commission's decision. This amendment was an attempt by the tech giant to address concerns raised about its advertising practices.
Google's previous loss in antitrust case
Just a week before this victory, Google experienced a setback when it lost its final appeal against a €2.42 billion fine. The penalty was imposed for using its price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals. Despite these legal challenges and mixed outcomes, Google continues to be a dominant player in the global tech industry.
