The top court of Europe on Tuesday, September 10, decided that a fine for 2.4 billion euros ($2.65 billion) against Google remained in force.
The mentioned measure of impact from European justice was applied against the Internet search giant because, according to the institutions of the jurisdiction of the specified region, the company abused its dominant position in favor of its own shopping comparison service.
The decision on the fine was made based on the results of an antitrust investigation conducted by the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union. This investigation was concluded in 2017.
The European Commission has said that the Internet search giant has opted for its own shopping comparison service. In this context, it was noted that the corresponding Google decision limited the capabilities of such competitor services.
The Internet search giant has tried to appeal the fine to the General Court, the second-highest court in the European Union. These efforts did not bring the Internet search giant the desired result. The General Court upheld the initial decision on the fine unchanged. After that, Google initiated the transfer of the case to the European Court of Justice, the highest judicial instance of the European Union.
On Tuesday, the European Court of Justice decided to dismiss the appeal from the Internet search giant. This decision means that the fine of the European Commission remains in force.
A Google spokesperson said in a media comment that the company was disappointed with the dismission of the appeal. In this context, it was also noted separately that the court’s decision is related to a specific set of facts. A Google spokesperson underlined that the Internet search giant made changes in 2017 to comply with the requirements of the European Commission. Also in this case, it is noted that the company’s approach has been successfully operating for more than seven years, generating billions of clicks for more than 800 shopping comparison services.
As part of efforts to address concerns from European regulators, Google made changes to its policy in this region in 2017. The corresponding changes meant that the company had to bid on advertising sдots in the shopping search results in the same way as its competitors.
It is worth noting that recently Google, which is part of the Alphabet ownership structure, has been facing an increased level of attention from regulators, a kind form of manifestation of which are proceedings related to the specifics of the technology giant’s activities in the context of compliance with legal norms. In March, the European Union launched an investigation into Alphabet. This process was initiated within the framework of the Digital Markets Act. The mentioned act contains legal mechanisms aimed at a thorough study of the practices of technology companies in Europe.
In the United States, Google is also facing increased regulatory scrutiny. The company is currently in the midst of an antitrust case against the US Department of Justice concerning its advertising business. It is worth noting that this year the Internet search giant has already lost one antitrust case.
As we have reported earlier, US Appeals Court Revives Privacy Action by Google Chrome Users.
