EU Court Upholds €2.4 Billion Antitrust Fine Against Google

September 10, 2024 09:45 PM AEST | By Team Kalkine Media

Google News:

EU Court Upholds €2.4 Billion Antitrust Fine Against Google — Image source: shutterstock

Recent News

Bendigo & Adelaide Bank: Focus on Dividends and Sector Standing

Carro releases second instalment of 'No Drama', first ad of campaign g...

St George Mining Steps Up Hunt for Rare Earths and Niobium in Brazil

Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO): Exploring Growth in the ASX 100 Tech Space

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.

Disclaimer

The content, including but not limited to any articles, news, quotes, information, data, text, reports, ratings, opinions, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (Content) is a service of Kalkine Media Pty Ltd (Kalkine Media, we or us), ACN 629 651 672 and is available for personal and non-commercial use only. The principal purpose of the Content is to educate and inform. The Content does not contain or imply any recommendation or opinion intended to influence your financial decisions and must not be relied upon by you as such. Some of the Content on this website may be sponsored/non-sponsored, as applicable, but is NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold the stocks of the company(s) or engage in any investment activity under discussion. Kalkine Media is neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice through this platform. Users should make their own enquiries about any investments and Kalkine Media strongly suggests the users to seek advice from a financial adviser, stockbroker or other professional (including taxation and legal advice), as necessary. Kalkine Media hereby disclaims any and all the liabilities to any user for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising from any use of the Content on this website, which is provided without warranties. The views expressed in the Content by the guests, if any, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kalkine Media. Some of the images/music that may be used on this website are copyright to their respective owner(s). Kalkine Media does not claim ownership of any of the pictures displayed/music used on this website unless stated otherwise. The images/music that may be used on this website are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have used reasonable efforts to accredit the source wherever it was indicated as or found to be necessary.