Google’s Final Appeal Denied, Forced to Pay $2.6 Billion EU Antitrust Fine
Europe’s top court has upheld a 2017 penalty against Google for illegal shopping recommendation practices. The company lost its final appeal against a 2.4 billion euro European Union fine for favoring its shopping recommendations over rivals in search results.
The European Union’s Court of Justice confirmed the lower court’s decision on Sept. 10, rejecting Google’s appeal against the hefty fine imposed by the European Commission, the bloc’s main antitrust regulator.
In response to the judgment, Google expressed disappointment and stated, “We are disappointed with the decision of the Court, which relates to a very specific set of facts.”
The commission penalized Google in 2017 for unfairly directing users to its own shopping service at the expense of competitors. This was one of three multibillion-euro fines the commission imposed on the tech giant in recent years as part of its increased scrutiny of the industry.
Google argued that it had made changes in compliance with the commission’s decision, including holding auctions for shopping search listings where it would bid alongside other comparison shopping services.
The company is still appealing two other EU antitrust penalties related to its Android mobile operating system and AdSense advertising platform.
Furthermore, the EU has opened more investigations into Big Tech companies and introduced a new law—the Digital Markets Act—to prevent them from dominating online markets.
European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager highlighted the significance of the shopping case as one of the initial attempts to regulate a digital company and inspired similar efforts globally.
Vestager emphasized the importance of ensuring that even the most powerful tech companies can be held accountable, stating, “No one is above the law.”
Despite Vestager stepping down in October as commissioner overseeing competition matters, the EU will continue to pursue competition cases and enforce the rules under the Digital Markets Act to provide consumers with more options.
Google is also facing scrutiny over its digital advertising practices, with ongoing investigations in the EU and the UK accusing the company of abusing its dominance in the ad tech industry.
In the United States, a federal antitrust trial began on Sept. 9 after the Department of Justice alleged that Google held a monopoly in the nation’s ad tech sector.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
