Google has lost its long-running legal battle with the European Union (EU), failing to challenge a €2.42 billion fine it imposed for violating antitrust laws. The ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) upheld sanctions first imposed by the European Commission in 2017 and could have far-reaching consequences for Google’s business model in internet search and online advertising.
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In 2017, the European Commission fined the world’s most popular internet search engine for using its own price comparison service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European competitors. The process of appealing the fine went through several stages. In 2021, a lower court upheld the European Commission’s decision, prompting Google to appeal to the CJEU, the EU’s highest court.
However, this attempt was unsuccessful. The CJEU judges highlighted an important aspect of European law in their verdict, stating: “In particular, conduct by entities in a dominant position that is inherently hampering competition and thus likely to harm individual businesses and consumers is prohibited.”
The €2.42 billion fine is just part of a larger picture of Google’s antitrust proceedings in the EU. Over the past decade, the total amount of fines imposed on the company by European competition authorities has reached a whopping €8.25 billion. In addition to this case, Google also challenged two more decisions: one related to the Android mobile operating system, the other related to the AdSense advertising service. However, these cases are still pending and their final outcome is unknown.
Moreover, last year regulators suspected the tech giant of providing preferences to its own advertising services, which could lead to the sale of part of Google’s highly profitable advertising business. These proceedings are at an early stage, but could potentially have even more serious consequences for Google’s business model than previous cases.