Europe’s top court has ruled that Google must pay a €2.4bn (£2bn) fine for abusing its dominant market position in shopping comparison services.
The tech giant has appealed a fine levied by the European Commission in 2017.
This was the largest fine ever imposed by the Commission at the time – although it was later superseded by a €4.3 billion fine also imposed on Google.
Google said it was “disappointed” with the ruling.
It brings to an end a long-running lawsuit that was first filed by British company Foundem in 2009, when the UK was still a member of the EU.
Another complainant, shopping comparison site Kelkoo, called the ruling a “victory for fair competition and consumer choice.” In an article on X.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ), which made today’s ruling, said in its ruling that the Commission had correctly found that Google’s behavior was “discriminatory” and that its appeal “must be dismissed in its entirety.”
It ordered Google and its owner Alphabet to cover their own costs and pay those incurred by the European Commission.
Google noted in a statement that it had made changes in 2017 to comply with the European Commission’s decision.
“Our approach has been running successfully for more than seven years, generating billions of clicks for more than 800 comparison shopping services,” the company said.
Anne Witt, a law professor at the EDHEC Business School’s Enhanced Law School, said it was “an important judgment.”
“This is bad news for Google because it has exhausted its legal remedies in this case,” she said, noting that Google may face more problems in the future.
“Several subsequent lawsuits seeking compensation for the losses suffered by injured parties as a result of Google’s anti-competitive behavior have been heard in various national courts.”
On Monday, Google was sued by the U.S. government over its advertising technology business, accusing it of illegal monopoly. The case is still under trial.
last week, UK regulator tentatively concludes Google uses anti-competitive practices to monopolize the market for online advertising technology.
The EU’s case against Google began with Foundem, which filed a lawsuit against the tech giant in 2009.
The core argument is that Google makes its own shopping recommendations more prominent in search results than those of its competitors.
Google had tried to argue that the case had no legal or economic merit.
But seven years ago the commission agreed the tech giant had effectively monopolised the online price comparison market by preventing other companies from gaining a foothold in the market.
That decision has now been upheld.
Industry insiders have been closely following this EU case, and some believe that the outcome of this case may affect the direction of many other antitrust cases currently facing Google from the European Commission.
The search giant has been fined 8.2 billion euros by the European Commission, which has repeatedly accused the company of abusing its dominant market position.
- 2017: €2.4 billion fine for shopping search results
- 2018: Fined €4.3 billion for using Android software to unfairly promote its own apps
- 2019: Fined €1.5 billion for blocking ads from rival search engines
The EU is also currently investigating whether the company prioritizes its own goods and services in search results as part of its Digital Markets Act.
If Google is found guilty, the company could face a fine of up to 10% of its annual turnover.
This is by no means the only clash between the EU and big tech companies.
The European Court of Justice today issued another ruling Apple to pay €13 billion (£11 billion; $14 billion) in unpaid taxes Go to Ireland.
