Google offices, stock image
Google has won a court challenge against a €1.49bn European Union anti-trust fine imposed five years ago, that targeted its online advertising business.
Europe’s General Court said it was throwing out the 2019 penalty imposed by the European Commission, which is the top anti-trust enforcer for the EU.
“The General Court annuls the commission’s decision in its entirety,” it said in a statement.
The commission’s ruling applied to a narrow portion of Google’s ad business.
It relates to adverts that the US tech giant sold next to Google search results on third-party websites.
Regulators had found that Google inserted exclusivity clauses in its contracts that barred these websites from running similarly placed ads sold by Google’s rivals.
The commission said when it issued the penalty that Google’s behaviour resulted in advertisers and website owners having less choice and likely facing higher prices that would be passed on to consumers.
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