Google has successfully overturned a €1.49 billion (£1.26 billion) fine imposed by the EU for hindering rival online search advertisers.
The EU accused Google of misusing its market dominance by preventing third-party competitors from displaying search ads between 2006 and 2016.
Europe’s second-highest court found that the European Commission, which issued the fine, had “committed errors in its assessment.”
The Commission has stated that it will “consider possible next steps,” which may include an appeal to the EU’s highest court.
Google welcomed the ruling: “We are pleased that the court has recognised errors in the original decision and annulled the fine,” it said in a statement.
“We will review the full decision closely,” it added.
This represents a rare victory for the tech giant, which faced fines totaling €8.2 billion between 2017 and 2019 for antitrust violations.
Google’s attempt to overturn one of those fines was unsuccessful last week.
The company is also facing scrutiny outside of Europe regarding its highly profitable ad tech business.
Earlier this month, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally found that Google engaged in anti-competitive practices to maintain market dominance.
In the US, the government is also pursuing legal action against Google, alleging that its parent company, Alphabet, illegally monopolizes the market.
Alphabet contends that its market dominance stems from the superior effectiveness of its products.
Restrictive clauses
The case centered on Google’s AdSense product, which places ads on websites, effectively positioning Google as an intermediary for advertisements.
The European Commission determined that Google had abused its dominant position by restricting websites from using ad brokers other than AdSense when seeking advertisements.
The Commission also alleged that Google imposed additional “restrictive” clauses in its contracts to maintain its market dominance, resulting in a €1.49 billion fine.
In its ruling, the EU’s General Court upheld most of the Commission’s findings but annulled the fine.
The court found that the Commission had not fully considered “all the relevant circumstances” regarding the contract clauses and the market definition. As a result, the court concluded that the Commission had not sufficiently demonstrated “an abuse of dominant position.”