GOOGLE ASKS EU COURT TO DROP $1.6 BILLION ANTITRUST FINE

Mon 02 May 2022:

Google, an Alphabet unit, asked Europe’s second-highest court on Monday to overturn a fine of 1.49 billion euros ($1.6 billion) issued by EU antitrust regulators three years ago for obstructing competitors in online search advertising.

The case is one of three involving the world’s most popular internet search engine that has resulted in a total of 8.25 billion euros in European Union antitrust fines.

In a 2019 judgement, the European Commission stated that Google had exploited its dominance by preventing websites from utilizing brokers other than its AdSense platform to provide search advertisements. The illicit actions, according to the Commission, occurred between 2006 and 2016.

Google subsequently challenged the EU finding in the Luxembourg-based General Court. The company will set out its case during a three-day hearing starting on Monday.

The EU competition enforcer’s assessment of Google’s dominance and the Commission’s decision that search ads and non-search ads do not compete were wrong, Google said in a court document.

It also slammed the Commission for calling the company’s exclusivity, premium placement, and minimum Google ad restrictions abusive.

Last year, Google was defeated in court for the use of its own price comparison shopping tool to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European competitors, losing a 2.42-billion-euro antitrust ruling.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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