Google's appeal against €2.4B antitrust fine dismissed by EU court
What's the story
Google has failed to overturn a 2017 antitrust decision by the European Commission. The tech giant was penalized with a €2.42 billion fine for violating competition rules through its shopping comparison service. Google challenged this decision in November 2021, but the General Court of the European Union upheld the Commission's penalty. In response, the company lodged a second appeal against EU's decision, this time to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which also ruled against them today.
Decision
Here's what the court said
The General Court of the European Union confirmed that Google's practice of favoring its own shopping service in search results was anti-competitive. This behavior was found to be detrimental to competing shopping comparison services, leading to the upholding of the Commission's penalty. However, the court also determined that the Commission had not proven that Google's actions could have negatively impacted the overall market for general search services, leading to a partial annulment of their findings.
Appeal dismissal
Google's 2nd appeal dismissed by CJEU
Google lodged an appeal against the EU's decision again, this time to the CJEU. However, the court's decision was not to the company's liking. The CJEU agreed with the General Court's assessment that "Google's conduct was discriminatory and did not fall within the scope of competition on the merits." This ruling could mark an end to Google's appeals against this particular decision, as further challenges can only be made on points of law.
Response
Google's response to EU antitrust decision
In response to the Commission's decision, Google began conducting auctions for shopping search listings. These were open to other comparison shopping services, as part of an effort to treat competitors equally. The tech giant has also challenged several other Commission antitrust decisions related to its Android mobile platform and AdSense advertising platform.