Google won a significant legal victory on Wednesday, overturning a 1.49 billion euro ($1.66 billion) antitrust fine imposed by the European Union five years ago. The EU’s General Court annulled the penalty, which had targeted a specific portion of Google’s online advertising business. The case revolved around ads sold next to Google search results on third-party websites, with regulators accusing Google of including exclusivity clauses that prevented these sites from running ads from competing companies.
The European Commission had argued that Google’s actions reduced choices for advertisers and website owners, leading to higher costs that would likely be passed on to consumers. However, the General Court found that the Commission had made errors in its assessment. The court ruled that the exclusivity clauses did not stifle innovation, harm consumers, or unfairly strengthen Google’s dominant position in the search advertising market. The decision can be appealed to the Court of Justice, but only on points of law.
Following the ruling, the European Commission issued a brief statement saying it would carefully review the judgment and consider next steps. Google, which had already removed the controversial contract clauses in 2016, expressed satisfaction with the decision, stating that it was pleased the court recognized the errors in the original ruling.
This victory comes shortly after Google lost another EU antitrust case involving its shopping comparison service, one of three major penalties totaling around 8 billion euros that the company has faced from the Commission. Google continues to battle increasing scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic, including ongoing legal challenges in the U.S. and the UK over its dominance in the digital ad market. EU regulators have even suggested that breaking up the company might be necessary to address competition concerns.
