Google has lost its final legal challenge against a European Union penalty for favoring its own shopping recommendations in search results, resulting in a 2.4 billion euro fine. The European Union’s Court of Justice upheld the penalty, rejecting Google's appeal. The court stated that the appeal was dismissed, upholding the General Court's decision.
In 2017, the European Commission accused Google of unfairly directing users to its Google Shopping service over competitors. Google made changes to comply with the commission's decision, including holding auctions for shopping search listings. Despite these changes, the court upheld the penalty, emphasizing the importance of competition law in digital markets.
The court's decision was praised by the European consumer group BEUC, highlighting how Google's practices harmed consumers by limiting access to rival comparison shopping services. Google is still appealing two other EU antitrust penalties related to its Android operating system and AdSense advertising platform.
These cases reflect a broader trend of regulators worldwide cracking down on the tech industry. The EU has initiated more investigations into Big Tech companies and is drafting new laws to regulate social media platforms and artificial intelligence.
Google is also facing scrutiny over its digital advertising business, with the U.S. Department of Justice alleging monopoly practices in the ad tech industry. British competition regulators and the EU are conducting their own investigations into Google's dominance in ad tech.
