Alphabet challenges EU antitrust regulators’ appeal after a lower court annulled the €1.49 billion penalty for alleged anti-competitive practices.
Google urged the Court of Justice of the European Union to reject an appeal by EU antitrust regulators seeking to reinstate a €1.49 billion fine. The fine, imposed in 2019, was annulled in 2024 by the General Court, which cited errors in the European Commission’s assessment.
The Commission had accused Google of using restrictive clauses in contracts with publishers to block rivals from placing search ads on their sites, reinforcing its dominance in online search advertising. The practices allegedly spanned from 2006 to 2016. Google removed the contested clauses in 2016.
Google’s legal team argued the Commission’s new arguments were flawed, while the Commission criticized the lower court’s ruling as unprecedented and contrary to established case law.