Google is once again challenging the €2.4 billion ($2.6 billion) fine imposed by the European Union (EU) in 2017 for violating antitrust rules. The EU found that Google had used its dominant position in the search engine market to unlawfully promote its comparison shopping service. Google initially appealed the fine in the EU’s General Court, but the decision was upheld. Now, the company is seeking to challenge the fine in the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), arguing that the EU failed to demonstrate how its practices were anticompetitive.
“Companies do not compete by treating competitors equally with themselves,” said Thomas Graf, a lawyer for Google. “The whole point of competition is for a company to differentiate itself from rivals. Not to align with rivals so that all are the same.”
The CJEU Advocate General, Juliane Kokott, is expected to issue her non-binding opinion on January 11, following which the CJEU will rule in the months to come.
The 2017 ruling against Google was the first of three penalties the company faced for anticompetitive practices in the EU. Over the past decade, fines imposed on Google have totaled €8.25 billion. The other cases involved Google’s Android mobile operating system, where Google lost an appeal in 2020, and its AdSense advertising service.
Earlier this year, regulators threatened to break up Google if the company did not attempt to regulate its behavior in response to the AdSense case.
Google’s ongoing antitrust woes in the US
Last week, Google found itself defending against the first of two major lawsuits brought by the United States government. The government alleges that Google has illegally used its dominance in search to stifle competition, to the detriment of the public. The case opened last week focuses on Google’s search business, while a second trial targeting its advertising practices is scheduled for next year.
“This case is about the future of the internet, whether the Google search engine will ever face meaningful competition to protect that future,” said Kenneth Dintzer, deputy director in the DOJ’s civil division during opening arguments in the search case.
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Perspective: Google’s ongoing battles with antitrust regulators in both the European Union and the United States highlight the increasing scrutiny tech giants face regarding their market dominance. The outcome of these legal challenges could potentially reshape the competitive landscape within the tech industry and have significant implications on how these companies conduct their business in the future.
