European judges dismiss Brussels fine for Google

This article was last updated on September 18, 2024

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European judges dismiss Brussels fine for Google

The General Court of the European Union has fined the European Commission EUR 1.49 billion Google imposed in 2019, swept off the table. According to the judges, Brussels made mistakes in the assessment of the investigation.

Although the judges agree with the European Commission’s findings, they believe that the right conclusions are not drawn from them. In the eyes of the judges, the EU has not made it sufficiently clear that the three violations constitute abuse of power and that European law has thus been violated for years.

The judges also find that the European Commission has not demonstrated that the agreements hinder innovation, that the agreements help Google to maintain a dominant position and that this harms consumers. The judges thus follow the company’s defense.

The General Court is part of the European Court of Justice and is located in Luxembourg. Citizens, companies and Member States, among others, can go there if they disagree with decisions by EU authorities. Cases are heard in the first instance. Parties can always appeal to the Court of Justice itself.

For Google, which made more than 60 billion euros in profits last year, the 1.5 billion fine was no blow. Sweeping the fine off the table is a moral boost in a long-running battle with the European Commission that has now led to three fines. Earlier this month, the company lost another fine case for abuse of power actually definitive.

The case in which a decision has now been made revolves around agreements between third parties and Google. This concerns, for example, news sites and web shops that use the company’s search technology in their website. It means that consumers search that site via Google. Just like with the search engine itself, advertisements are shown in the search results. The website receives a share of the proceeds.

Brussels ruled in 2019 that Google imposed requirements in the contracts between the parties that put competing advertising networks – such as Microsoft and Yahoo – at a disadvantage. This concerns a total of three violations.

When announcing the fine, Google said it had already implemented a “large number of changes” to meet the European Commission’s objections.