Google wins EU ads abuse case, overruling €1.5 billion fine
The EU’s Google cases marked the centrepiece of antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager’s bid to rein in Silicon Valley
Judges at the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg backed the Alphabet unit’s challenge to a fine doled out in 2019, saying regulators were mostly correct in their findings but made key mistakes in their probe linked to the duration of the alleged wrongdoing.
The European Commission had concluded that Google – as a dominant online ad broker – illegally prevented rivals such as Yahoo and Microsoft from placing ads on third-party websites. Wednesday’s ruling can still be appealed at the bloc’s top tribunal, the Court of Justice.
The decision comes on the heels of two court successes for antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager and her bid to rein in Silicon Valley. Last week she won victories at the top court against Google’s attempt to avoid a €2.4 billion antitrust penalty for favouring its own product results on search and Apple’s bid to skirt a €13 billion Irish tax bill.
The EU’s case into Google’s AdSense service is the last of a trilogy of court disputes over cases that set the course for Vestager’s tenure, which is about to end after a decade.
EU regulators targeted Google’s role as an ad broker for websites, where the AdSense for Search product placed advertising on platforms including newspaper websites, blogs and travel sites.
