Google has successfully overturned a €1.49bn antitrust fine imposed five years ago for restricting competition in online search advertising.
In its 2019 decision, the European Commission had accused Google of abusing its dominance by preventing websites from using ad brokers other than its AdSense platform for search advertisements.
These anti-competitive practices were said to have occurred between 2006 and 2016.
While the Luxembourg-based General Court largely upheld the Commission’s findings, it annulled the fine.
“The court confirmed most of the Commission’s conclusions but nullified the €1.5bn fine, citing a failure to fully consider the duration of the contractual clauses deemed unfair,” the judges explained.
This AdSense fine was one of three penalties Google has faced, totalling €8.25bn, following a complaint filed by Microsoft in 2010.
Google noted that it had modified the contracts in …