Google suffered a setback in European justice on Thursday January 11, with the publication of the opinion of a general advocate defending the fine of 2.4 billion euros imposed by Brussels for anti-competitive practices in the price comparison market, a dispute dating back almost fifteen years. These opinions, which are non-binding, are generally followed by the judges, but it will still be necessary to wait several months before the court in Luxembourg makes a decision.
The European Commission, guardian of competition in the European Union (EU), sanctioned Google in June 2017 for abusing its dominant position in online search. The large specialist tech group is accused of having favored its Google Shopping price comparison by making its competitors practically invisible to consumers. He has since been forced to modify the display of his search results to comply with European requirements.
The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), Juliane Kokott, proposed on Thursday “confirm the fine of 2.4 billion euros”. “As the Commission found and the court confirmed, Google used its dominant position” in search engines “to promote your own product comparison”she estimated.
“We will consider the opinion of the Advocate General and await the final decision of the court (…) and we will continue to work constructively with the European Commission”a Google spokesperson said Thursday.
Google received a total fine of 8 billion euros
Google lost the first round of this legal series in November 2021. The EU court, seized by the Mountain View group, then confirmed the fine of 2.4 billion euros. But the Californian search engine champion filed an appeal in January 2022, demanding both the annulment of the sanction and of this court judgment.
The CJEU is the court of last instance. It does not rule on the merits, but only on questions of law. It may decide to confirm or annul all or part of the first instance decision, or even opt for a referral to the EU court.
The affair began in 2010 with the launch of a Brussels investigation following complaints filed by Google Shopping competitors. This case is only one of the major disputes opened by Brussels against the Californian group, which holds the record for the three largest fines ever imposed by the European executive for anti-competitive practices. They total more than 8 billion euros.
The fine of 2.4 billion regarding Google Shopping represented a record amount at the time it was imposed. It was exceeded in 2018 by that of 4.3 billion euros concerning the Android operating system for mobile phones.
The technology group was also fined 1.5 billion euros in 2019 for violations attributed to its AdSense advertising agency.
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Google is also suspected by the European Commission of having abused its dominant position in advertising display technologies. At the end of an investigation, opened in 2021, Brussels could decide on a new fine and even force the group to sell activities in this area.
Noting the slowness of investigations and legal remedies, the EU has developed new legislation on digital markets (DMA), hoping to finally bring the giants of the sector into line. From March it will impose new obligations and bans, accompanied by dissuasive sanctions, on five American groups, including Alphabet, the parent company of Google, but also Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and the Chinese ByteDance, owner of TikTok.