HardwareGoogle finally wins a court case and gets out of a €1.49 billion fine over anti-competitive practicesWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

HardwareGoogle finally wins a court case and gets out of a €1.49 billion fine over anti-competitive practicesWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Google headquarters is seen in Mountain View, California, United States on September 26, 2022.

Back in 2019, the EC stated, “Google first imposed an exclusive supply obligation, which prevented competitors from placing any search adverts on the commercially most significant websites. Then, Google introduced what it called its “relaxed exclusivity” strategy aimed at reserving for its own search adverts the most valuable positions and at controlling competing adverts' performance.”

Europe’s second-highest court, the General Court, has now annulled the 2019 fine. While this court reportedly agreed with most of the EC’s findings, the judges stated (viaReuters) that the EC had “not demonstrated that the clauses in question had, first, possibly deterred innovation, next, helped Google to maintain and strengthen its dominant position on the national markets for online search advertising at issue and, last, that they had possibly harmed consumers.”

Good news for Google, then, but it’s good news amidst the bad, considering the company is still facing billions-worth of fines. Little over a week ago, for instance,Google failed to have a different €2.4 billion fine overturned.

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Given other fines and these US cases, this €1.49 billion fine was unlikely to be the crux of Google’s concerns. I can’t help but suspect a few billion here or there matters little in Google’s world. Oh, to be a tech giant in 2024—one can only dream.

Best gaming mouse: the top rodents for gamingBest gaming keyboard: your PC’s best friend…Best gaming headset: don’t ignore in-game audio

Best gaming mouse: the top rodents for gamingBest gaming keyboard: your PC’s best friend…Best gaming headset: don’t ignore in-game audio

Best gaming mouse: the top rodents for gamingBest gaming keyboard: your PC’s best friend…Best gaming headset: don’t ignore in-game audio

Best gaming mouse: the top rodents for gamingBest gaming keyboard: your PC’s best friend…Best gaming headset: don’t ignore in-game audio

Best gaming mouseBest gaming keyboardBest gaming headset

Best gaming mouse: the top rodents for gamingBest gaming keyboard: your PC’s best friend…Best gaming headset: don’t ignore in-game audio

Best gaming mouse: the top rodents for gamingBest gaming keyboard: your PC’s best friend…Best gaming headset: don’t ignore in-game audio

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