In a court ruling on Wednesday, Google successfully challenged a $1.66 billion European Union antitrust fine imposed five years ago targeting its online advertising business.
The General Court of the EU overturned the 2019 penalty issued by the European Commission, the top antitrust enforcer for the 27-nation bloc.
In a press release, the court stated, “The General Court annuls the Commission’s decision in its entirety.” The fine was related to a specific aspect of Google’s ad business: ads displayed alongside Google search results on third-party websites.
Regulators accused Google of including exclusivity clauses in its contracts, preventing these websites from running ads sold by Google’s competitors in similar positions. The commission argued that this behavior limited choices for advertisers and website owners, potentially leading to higher prices for consumers.
However, the General Court found that the commission “made mistakes” in its evaluation of these clauses. It failed to prove that Google’s contracts hindered innovation, harmed consumers, or helped the company maintain and strengthen its dominant position in national online search advertising markets. While the ruling can be appealed to the Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court, it can only be challenged on legal grounds. In response to the ruling, the commission stated that it will carefully review the judgment and consider potential next steps.
Google mentioned that it had already removed the provisions in question from its contracts in 2016, prior to the commission’s decision. “We are pleased that the court has acknowledged errors in the original decision and annulled the fine,” Google stated. “We will thoroughly examine the full decision.”
This legal victory for Google comes shortly after it lost a final appeal against another EU antitrust case involving its shopping comparison service and a significant fine.
These fines were part of three antitrust penalties totaling about $8.8 billion that the commission imposed on Google in the last decade, marking the start of increased scrutiny for major tech companies. Since then, Google has faced growing pressure in both the U.S. and Europe regarding its digital advertising business. It is currently involved in a legal battle with the U.S. Justice Department over allegations of illegal monopoly in the technology controlling the sale of internet display ads.
In addition, British competition regulators recently accused Google of leveraging its dominance in the country’s digital ad market and favoring its own services. Last year, EU antitrust authorities conducting their own investigation suggested that breaking up the company was the only way to address competition concerns related to its digital ad business.
