AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
FRA
GER
ESP
ITA
NLD
PRT
SWE
GRC
IND
POL
BRA
ZAF
RUS
CHN
UAE
On Tuesday, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) faced a significant setback as the EU's Court of Justice upheld a €2.4 billion fine imposed for antitrust violations. This decision affirms a 2017 ruling that found Google had abused its market dominance by preferentially promoting its own shopping services over those of competitors.
The ruling is a pivotal development in a series of legal actions spearheaded by EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager. Vestager, who has been instrumental in scrutinizing Google's market practices, ramped up the case against the company soon after taking office in 2014.
The fine for shopping services was the first of three major penalties against Google, with total fines surpassing €8 billion. The 2018 fine of €4.3 billion was for restrictive practices related to the Android operating system, and a further €1.49 billion fine was imposed in 2019 for anticompetitive behavior in online advertising.
Google expressed disappointment with the latest ruling. According to Bloomberg, the company pointed out that a 2017 proposal designed to address the EU's concerns had resulted in increased traffic to competing shopping services. However, the judgment reinforces the EU's ongoing scrutiny of Google's business practices.
The EU's Digital Markets Act, which was implemented last year, aims to prevent dominant tech companies from prioritizing their own services. This regulatory measure seeks to address long-standing issues related to market fairness and competition.
As of 06:45 EDT (11:45 BST), shares in Google's parent company, Alphabet, were up 0.14% in premarket trading, reaching $149.75. The stock had closed the previous session down 1.57% at $149.54.
