Google faces another test in EU court over 1.5-bn euro fine

Wednesday’s decision by an EU court will address Google’s appeal of a 1.49 billion euro ($1.65 billion) fine imposed by the EU, which comes one week after the US tech giant was dealt a painful legal setback about a more substantial fine.

Global regulators are increasing their pressure on Alphabet, the parent company of Google, by conducting investigations and trials into one of the most valuable firms in the world.

Last week, Google was fined 2.42 billion euros by the EU’s top court in Luxembourg for abusing its dominant position in the market by favoring its own comparison shopping site. This was a victory for Brussels.

The European Commission, which has been at the forefront of combating abuses by giant digital companies, fined Google 8.2 billion euros between 2017 and 2019 for violating antitrust laws.

The third of those sanctions, totaling 1.49 billion euros, is at stake on Wednesday. The EU’s strong antitrust agency issued the penalties after discovering that Google had exploited its dominance through its AdSense advertising program.
After 07:30 GMT, the General Court of Luxembourg will make public its ruling regarding Google’s appeal against the fine.

Google requested that the commission’s ruling be annulled in whole or in part, and that the penalties be reduced or canceled.
There is still more to the protracted legal dispute between Google and the EU.

The larger powers of the EU

In addition, Google is contesting a 4.3 billion euro fine Brussels imposed on it for imposing limitations on Android smartphones in an effort to grow its online search business.

The 2018 fine continues to be the biggest antitrust fine in EU history.
In 2022, the General Court mostly upheld the commission’s claim that Google had placed unlawful limitations, but marginally lowering the penalties to 4.1 billion euros.

After Google filed an appeal with the higher European Court of Justice over the most recent ruling, the legal drama around that case continues.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA), a more potent legislative tool that the EU has now acquired, allows it to keep the largest internet firms in the world—including Google—under check.
Instead of years-long investigations by authorities turning up flagrant antitrust violations, the DMA just provides businesses with an online whitelist of what they may and cannot do.

The hope is that before deterrent sanctions are necessary, tech giants would alter their behavior.

Apple, Facebook’s parent company Meta, and Google are already the focus of one DMA inquiry.