Google fights €1.49 billion AdSense antitrust fine in EU court
Business
Google is fighting a massive €1.49 billion ($1.7 billion) antitrust fine in the EU's highest court.
The European Commission said Google used unfair AdSense contract rules to keep rivals out of search ads, but a lower court threw out the fine in 2024, saying the Commission messed up its review.
Court adviser opinion due November 2026
Google's lawyer argued that competitors actually had chances to compete, while the Commission pushed back, saying letting Google off sets a bad legal example.
The disputed practices ran from 2006 to 2016 until Google changed its contracts.
A court adviser is due to issue a non-binding opinion on November 12, 2026, and this case is just one of four big fines that have cost Google €9.5 billion over nearly 20 years of legal battles with the EU.