Google Narrowly Escapes Mega $1.63 Billion EU Fine For Antitrust Behavior

Google has just narrowly escaped a major fine regarding antitrust practices in the EU.

The case from 2019 alleged that the search engine giant was using unfair tactics to ensure its reign in the industry as a monopoly. Therefore, it was said to pay a major fine.

Now the company isn’t any stranger when it comes to such big fines. It’s already paid billions in the past decade, more than $11B to be exact. This was right before inflation kicked in.

But the latest verdict in the EU has made the Android maker happy that it’s off the hook and just managed to dodge a serious financial bullet. This stems from a ruling done in 2019 with the EC. As it is, the company is facing scrutiny for monopoly behavior in the US as the DOJ found it guilty of the act.

The only difference in this case is related to the fact that this is linked to online advertising. As mentioned by the EC, it accused Android maker Google of making use of its leading market position to limit competition.

Seeing the European Courts rule in Google’s favor is major news. We agree this does not clear the tech giant in terms of any wrongdoing, squashing the fine raises more questions in terms of relevant circumstances as reported by media outlet Reuters recently.

This gives tech giant Google a little room to breathe temporarily. This doesn’t need to be the final verdict. The EC always has the chance to generate appeals but at the moment it’s yet to commit to more actions.

In another similarly dramatic report, it’s mentioned how tech giant Qualcomm is in the same boat as Google. It’s working to appeal another bill that relates to accusations linked to anti-competitive conduct throughout the EU. The fine here was outlined to be 242 million Euros. Hence, it looks like the case could have been dealt with better with Google’s team of lawyers.

They did do a great job with the appeal, forcing the European courts to reduce the fine and then remove it altogether.

For now, it’s celebration time for Google but the question is how long this can last as the mega DOJ trial has already called the tech giant out for its anticompetitive practices.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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