Google gets win from European court as β¬1.5 billion fine overturned
Google has won an appeal against a β¬1.5 billion competition fine from the European Commission in a victory for the Big Tech group as it comes under growing scrutiny from Brussels regulators.
The EUβs General Court said on Wednesday that while it accepted βmost of the commissionβs assessmentsβ that the company had used its dominant position to block rival online advertisers, it annulled the hefty fine levied against Google in the case.
When launching the action against Google in 2019, Margrethe Vestager, the blocβs competition chief, said that the search giant had imposed anti-competitive restrictions on third-party websites for a decade between 2006 and 2016. She justified the β¬1.5 billion fine by arguing that it reflected the βserious and sustained natureβ of the infringement.