Google has been fined over €8.2 billion in the European Union so far. The European Court of Justice has finally upheld the fine for Google’s abuse of market dominance in the comparison shopping services sector. As a result, Google must pay €2.4 billion, making it one of the heaviest fines imposed on tech companies. According to the BBC, the European Commission first initiated this case against Google in 2017, and the tech giant has repeatedly appealed against it. In addition to being one of the largest fines imposed, this case has also become one of the longest-running cases in the EU.
Google’s business is under scrutiny from European and American courts
The origins of this billion-euro fine against Google trace back to 2009 when the British company Foundem filed a complaint against Google in the EU. Foundem alleged that Google was favoring its own recommendations for purchasing goods or services in search results over those of competitors. In response, Google attempted to convince EU officials that these allegations had no legal or economic basis.
However, in 2017, the European Commission ruled that Google had engaged in monopolistic practices in the online search market and took steps to fine the company. This decision has now been upheld by the EU courts, and Google has no choice but to pay the €2.4 billion fine. Simultaneously, antitrust cases against Google are also ongoing in American courts.
To date, the European Commission has imposed more than €8.2 billion in fines on Google, setting a record for the tech giant. In 2017, Google faced a €2.4 billion fine for manipulating search results. In 2018, the company was fined €4.3 billion for unfairly promoting its own apps on the Android operating system. Most recently, Google was fined €1.5 billion for blocking ads from rival search engines.
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