Google Finally Has What It’s Been Missing in Antitrust Battles: A Courtroom Victory (Video)

Google (GOOG, GOOGL) won an antitrust victory Wednesday, convincing the European Union’s second-most important court to overturn a $1.7 billion fine imposed by the EU’s competition watchdog.

The victory, which overturned a fine imposed after the European Commission ruled that Google’s AdSense program illegally prevents competitors from using premium ad space, contrasts with a string of antitrust defeats that have been piling up for the tech giant.

In June, a U.S. federal district court judge sided with the U.S. Department of Justice, ruling that Google used illegal tactics to maintain its monopoly on the internet search engine market.

In September, the European Commission convinced the EU’s Supreme Court to approve a $2.7 billion fine against Google for favoring its commercial activities over its competitors.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority is investigating whether Google’s advertising technology companies have breached antitrust laws.

The CMA in its preliminary ruling said it believed the tech giant had broken the law.

And the dispute over AdSense’s activity in the EU may not end.

The EC can appeal the Court of First Instance’s decision to annul the fine to the EU’s highest court. The court made clear in its ruling that it upheld “most” of the lower court’s findings that Google’s AdSense activities violate EU antitrust law.

And all around us there are still unresolved antitrust battles going on.

Google lawyers are defending the company in an ongoing lawsuit in federal district court in Virginia. The lawsuit, filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, accuses Google of using illegal tactics to acquire and maintain its ad tech empire.

In the EU, Google appeals another fine.

In 2018, the European Commission fined Google $4.5 billion after it found that the company illegally required Android phone makers to install Google’s search engine and web browser apps in order to access the Google Play Store.

Alexis Keenan is a staff attorney at Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on X @alexiskweed.

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