Google prevails in court: EU antitrust fine annulled

The American technology giant Google has achieved a significant legal victory. A European Union court on Wednesday overturned a billion-euro fine that was imposed five years ago for anti-competitive practices in the online advertising business. The European Union court declared that it completely annuls the decision of the European Commission, the top antitrust authority of the 27 member states. This move terminates the sanction of 1.49 billion euros imposed in 2019. The original decision by the Commission concerned a specific part of Google's advertising business: ads placed next to Google search results on third-party websites. The regulatory authority had found that Google had included exclusivity clauses in its contracts, which prohibited these websites from displaying similar ads from Google's competitors. According to the Commission, this behavior led to fewer choices for advertising customers and website operators, as well as higher prices that were ultimately passed on to consumers.