Google wins court challenge against $1.7 billion EU antitrust fine

After five years of legal disputes, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has won a significant victory, overturning a €1.49 billion fine imposed by the European Union for antitrust violations. On Wednesday, the EU’s second-highest court ruled in favor of Google, annulling the fine originally levied by regulators.

This decision marks a mixed result for Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief, who has led several high-profile cases against Big Tech. Last week, she secured major wins against Google in a separate case and against Apple’s tax agreement with Ireland.

The case dates back to 2019 when the European Commission accused Google of exploiting its market dominance by restricting websites from using ad brokers other than its AdSense platform for search advertisements. These restrictions were in place from 2006 to 2016, during which Google’s platform enabled website owners to integrate search ads into their own search results.

The Commission argued that Google unfairly limited competition by including restrictive clauses in its contracts with third-party websites, blocking competitors from displaying their own search ads. In response, Google was fined €1.49 billion. However, Google challenged the ruling, sending the case to the EU’s General Court.

On Wednesday, the court stated it upheld most of the findings but annulled the €1.49 billion fine. The ruling noted that the Commission didn’t fully account for the relevant factors when evaluating the duration of the restrictive contract clauses.

In an interview, a Google spokesperson told CNBC the company would closely review the full decision, stating:

“This case is about a very narrow subset of text-only search ads placed on a limited number of publishers’ websites. We made changes to our contracts in 2016 to remove the relevant provisions, even before the Commission’s decision. We are pleased that the court has recognized errors in the original decision and annulled the fine.”

A Commission spokesperson acknowledged the court’s judgment and said it would consider the next steps, which could include an appeal to the European Court of Justice.

This ruling follows a series of high-profile legal outcomes involving U.S. tech firms and the EU. Earlier this month, the European Court of Justice upheld a €2.4 billion fine against Google for favoring its own shopping comparison service, and it also concluded a long-standing case requiring Apple to pay €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland.

In a related case, Google was found guilty of monopoly last month after a federal US judge ruled that Google abused its power and illegally maintained a monopoly in search and text advertising.