Alphabet’s Google has successfully challenged a €1.49 billion antitrust fine imposed by the European Commission five years ago for hindering rivals in the online search advertising market. This win comes just a week after the company lost a much larger case in the European courts.
Background: The Antitrust Allegations
The European Commission’s 2019 ruling accused Google of abusing its market dominance in the online search advertising space. Specifically, the Commission found that Google had prevented websites from using advertising brokers other than its own AdSense platform. Google’s actions were deemed anti-competitive and harmful to rival companies between 2006 and 2016.
The decision was one of three major antitrust fines imposed on Google over the years, collectively amounting to €8.25 billion. The AdSense fine followed a complaint lodged by Microsoft in 2010, which triggered the investigation into Google’s advertising practices. Google modified the contracts at the heart of the case in 2016, prior to the Commission’s decision.
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The General Court’s Ruling
While the Luxembourg-based General Court largely supported the European Commission’s findings, it ultimately annulled the fine on legal grounds. According to the court, the Commission failed to fully consider all the relevant circumstances, particularly concerning the duration of the unfair contractual clauses.
The court stated: “The court upheld most of the commission’s assessments, but annulled the decision imposing a fine of almost €1.5 billion on Google, on the grounds in particular 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.”
Although the fine was annulled, the court largely agreed that Google’s practices had violated competition law, aligning with the Commission’s assessment.
Google’s Broader Antitrust Challenges in Europe
This ruling is one part of Google’s ongoing legal battles with the European Union (EU) over antitrust issues. The AdSense fine was one of three major penalties levied by the European Commission:
- In 2017, the EU fined Google €2.42 billion for giving an unfair advantage to its Google Shopping service by promoting it over competitors in its search results.
- In 2018, the company was hit with a €4.34 billion fine for using its Android operating system to solidify the dominance of its search engine on mobile devices.
Last week, Google lost its final appeal in the Google Shopping case, where the €2.42 billion fine was upheld by the court. In contrast to the AdSense case, the court sided with the Commission’s full assessment in the Shopping case, which found Google’s practices stifled competition from smaller European rivals.
Implications for Google’s Business
Google’s legal challenges with the European Commission underscore the heightened scrutiny that Big Tech faces in Europe, where regulators have taken a strong stance on antitrust enforcement. Despite the fine annulment in the AdSense case, Google continues to face significant regulatory hurdles and potential fines, as European authorities work to ensure fair competition in the digital space.
The annulment of the €1.49 billion fine offers some relief to Google, but it remains a small win in the broader context of the company’s legal and regulatory issues across Europe.