Europe’s second-highest court ruled in favor of Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:) Google on Wednesday, overturning a 1.49 billion euro ($1.66 billion) antitrust fine imposed five years ago for restricting competition in online search ads.
“The court (…) upheld most of the commission’s assessments, but annulled the decision fining Google almost 1.5 billion euros, in particular on the grounds that Google had not taken into account in its assessment with all relevant circumstances of the duration of the contractual clauses that it considered unfair,” the judges said.
The Commission could challenge the ruling and possibly send it to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the bloc’s highest court.
The case dates back to 2019, when the European Commission accused Google of abusing its dominant position with its AdSense for search product, which allows websites to integrate ads into their own search results. The Commission alleged that Google’s restrictive contract terms with third-party websites prevented competitors from placing ads on these sites, leading to the fine.
Google appealed and took the case to the General Court.
Recently, several major legal decisions have emerged between US tech giants and the EU.
Earlier this month, the Court of Justice confirmed a €2.4 billion fine against Google for promoting its shopping comparison service over competitors.
The fine stemmed from a 2017 antitrust investigation conducted by the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union. At the time, the Commission found that Google had given preferential treatment to its own shopping comparison service, putting competitors at a disadvantage.
Google challenged the ruling before the General Court, the EU’s second highest court, which upheld the fine. The company then escalated the matter to the Court of Justice.
Meanwhile, the same court recently ruled that Apple (NASDAQ:) must pay €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland, ending a decade-long dispute.
