The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has upheld a €2.42 billion ($2.7 billion) antitrust fine imposed on Google by EU regulators. This marks the end of a seven-year legal battle regarding anti-competitive practices related to the tech giant’s search engine and comparison shopping services.
In 2017, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager found Google guilty of favouring its shopping services and blocking rivals in online search advertising. In light of these allegations, the EU imposed a major fine on the tech giant and also ordered Google to stop these activities within 90 days.
Google didn’t accept the decision and appealed the EU’s decision in the lower tribunal. However, in 2021, the tech giant lost the appeal, and the Commission’s fine remained.
Unsatisfied with the result, Google escalated the case to the CJEU, hoping to overturn or at least lessen the fine.
With this recent judgement by the CJEU, the European Commission’s stance has been cemented. The Court ruled that the EU law doesn’t condemn the mere existence of market dominance but rather the abusive exploitation of such a position. The court highlighted that practices hindering competition and harming competitors and consumers are prohibited.
This ruling adds to Google’s growing list of antitrust challenges in the EU, where it has accumulated more than €8.25 billion in fines over the decade. The company is also contesting two other significant fines related to its Android mobile operating system and AdSense advertising service.
Furthermore, Google faces a new EU antitrust charge which could potentially force it to divest part of its highly profitable adtech business, following accusations of preferential treatment toward its advertising services.
Recently, the EU gave a deadline for Meta to address its ‘pay or consent’ model. The Commission also issued a preliminary statement indicating that Microsoft may have violated EU antitrust regulations by integrating Teams with Office 365 and Microsoft 365.
In June 2024, reports emerged that Microsoft might sign a multimillion-euro deal with CISPE, a cloud lobbying group, to withdraw the antitrust complaint filed in the EU.
The Commission also informed Apple that the company’s App Store rules violate the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
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