Google beats EU antitrust case, avoids $1.7B fine for ad monopoly

The Google Logo in Black and White under a sepia shade.

What you need to know

• The EU's General Court overturned a €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) antitrust fine against Google, initially imposed in 2019.
• The European Commission accused Google of unfairly dominating the online ad market by preventing websites from using other ad brokers, particularly through its AdSense for Search platform.
• The court agreed with some of the Commission's findings but noted it failed to consider important factors, such as the length of Google's ad contracts and whether publishers could choose other ad services.