KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The EU’s Court of Justice ruled against Alphabet’s Google, which had appealed a 2.4-billion-euro ($2.7 billion) fine for abusing its dominant position by favoring its own shopping services over those of its competitors.
- Europe’s top court upheld a 2017 European Commission decision.
- Google said it was “disappointed” with the ruling and had made changes in 2017 to comply with the Commission’s ruling.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) on Tuesday ruled against Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google, which had appealed a 2.4-billion-euro ($2.7 billion) fine for abusing its dominant position by favoring its own shopping services over those of its competitors.
Europe’s top court upheld a 2017 decision by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm.
The Court of Justice also ruled against fellow tech giant Apple (AAPL) on Tuesday, saying it must pay a 13-billion-euro ($14.4 billion) tax bill after overturning a lower court ruling on Irish tax breaks.
Google Says ‘Disappointed’ With Court Decision
“We are disappointed with the decision of the Court. This judgment relates to a very specific set of facts,” a Google spokesperson told Investopedia. “We made changes back in 2017 to comply with the European Commission’s decision. Our approach has worked successfully for more than seven years, generating billions of clicks for more than 800 comparison shopping services.”
Last week, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Google may have broken competition laws by abusing its influence and using “anti-competitive” practices in prioritizing its own ad exchange. Meanwhile, early last month a U.S. federal judge ruled that Google held an illegal monopoly on search.
Alphabet shares rose more than 1% soon after the opening bell Tuesday and are about 8% higher year-to-date.