New test for Google facing Brussels: the European justice system will rule this Wednesday, September 18, on a fine of 1.49 billion euros imposed on the American giant for abuse of a dominant position in online advertising.
The EU Court will decide at 9:30 a.m. (07:30 GMT) whether or not to confirm this sanction, the third heaviest imposed by the European Commission on the search engine champion. Google will still have the possibility of appealing.
The first instance ruling comes just eight days after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) definitively upheld another fine against Google, worth €2.4 billion, for anti-competitive practices in the price comparison market, after a seven-year legal battle. The EU’s highest court ruled that Google had for years made competitors to its Google Shopping service virtually invisible to consumers.
The case heard on Wednesday concerns the advertising network Google AdSense. In 2019, the Commission had decided to fine the technology group €1.49 billion for having imposed restrictive clauses in contracts with websites. The aim, according to Brussels, was to prevent Google AdSense competitors from placing their own ads there. The Mountainview firm had decided to take legal action.
Eight billion euros in fines
According to the Commission, the infringement was observed over a period of ten years between 2006 and 2016, the year in which it opened its investigation following an initial customer complaint dating back to 2010. As early as September 2016, Google had removed certain clauses from its contracts in order to comply.
In total, the Californian giant was fined more than 8 billion euros for various breaches of competition law.
In addition to its price comparison and advertising network, Google has been found to be in breach in Europe over its Android operating system for mobile phones. It was fined a record €4.34 billion in July 2018. This fine was reduced to €4.1 billion in September 2022. It remains, however, the highest ever imposed by the European Commission, the guardian of competition in the EU. Google has also appealed this sanction before the CJEU.
The group is also in the crosshairs of regulatory authorities in the United States. Since Monday, it has been facing its second major trial in less than a year against the American government, which accuses it of stifling competition in online advertising.
