The commission said it took the judgments into consideration
Google has the right to appeal the case
The Competition Commissioner has a mixed record in defending
BRUSSELS, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Alphabet (GOOGL.O)A new tab opens Unit Google on Wednesday won a legal challenge against a 1.49 billion euro ($1.7 billion) European Union antitrust fine, while Qualcomm ( QCOM.OA new tab opens Failure to cancel penalty.
The rulings underscore outgoing EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's mixed record in defending her crackdown on Big Tech in court. He scored two big wins last week in a separate case against Google and over Apple's tax deal with Irish authorities.
The European Commission said in its 2019 decision that Google abused its dominance to prevent websites other than its AdSense platform from using brokers that serve search ads. The practices referred to as illegal took place from 2006 to 2016.
The Luxembourg-based General Court largely agreed with the EU competition enforcer's assessment of the case, but overturned the fine, saying the Commission had failed to take into account all the relevant circumstances.
“The Commission has also not demonstrated that the clauses in question, first, possibly inhibited innovation, second, helped Google maintain and strengthen its dominant position in the national market for online search advertising at issue, and, finally, they likely harmed consumers,” the judges said. said
Google said the lawsuit is about a narrow subset of text-only search ads placed on a limited number of publisher websites.
“We changed our contract in 2016 to remove the relevant provisions even before the commission's decision. We are pleased that the court recognized the errors in the original decision and canceled the fine,” the company said in an email.
The commission, which can appeal points of law to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), said it would study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps.
The Google logo is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, United States on November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Purchase License the rightA new tab opens
The AdSense fines, a trio of fines that have cost Google a total of 8.25 billion euros, were triggered by a complaint by Microsoft ( MSFT.OA new tab opens In 2010.
The company last week lost a final battle against a 2.42 billion euro fine levied for using its price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.
In the case of Qualcomm, the US chipmaker was only able to convince the General Court to trim its EU antitrust fine from 242 million euros to 238.7 million euros.
The judges threw out all its arguments. The commission imposed fines in 2019, saying Qualcomm sold its chipsets between 2009 and 2011, a practice known as predatory pricing, to thwart British phone software maker Icera, now part of Nvidia Corp ( NVDA.O ).A new tab opens.
The commission said it has also taken note of that judgment.
Qualcomm, which could appeal to the CJEU on points of law, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The cases are T-334/19 Google and Alphabet v Commission (Google AdSense for search) and T-671/19 Qualcomm v Commission (Qualcomm – predatory pricing).
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Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Written by Benoit van Overstraten; Edited by Barbara Lewis
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An agenda-setting and market-moving journalist, Fu Yun Chi is a 21-year veteran of Reuters. His stories about high-profile mergers have pushed up European telecom indices, lifted company shares and helped investors decide their next move. His knowledge and experience in European antitrust law and development has helped him break the stories of Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple, numerous market-moving mergers and antitrust investigations. He has previously reported on Greek politics and companies, when Greece's entry into the Eurozone meant it punched above its weight on the international stage, as well as satires on Dutch corporate giants and Dutch society and culture that never fail to attract readers.
