La EU Court of Justice ha Google's €1,49 billion fine annulled by the European Commission in 2019, but confirmed most of the regulatory body's assessments. The Court held that thethe Commission's analysis was incomplete, as it had not taken into account “all the relevant circumstances regarding the duration of the contractual clauses, which had been classified as abusive”, the court explains. The fine related to the AdSense advertising platform and was one of three fines imposed on Google between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 8,25 billion euros.
The case: Abuse of dominant position through AdSense
Google has Managed AdSense since 2003, a platform that allows website publishers to display ads relevant to users' search queries. The agreements with Google included clauses that limited or prohibited the display of competitors' ads, raising concerns among companies such as Microsoft, Expedia and Deutsche Telekom, which reported the behavior to antitrust authorities. The European Commission concluded that such clauses could to preclude competition in the advertising intermediation market.
The Commission's 2019 decision
In September 2016, Google has modified or removed the disputed clauses. In March 2019, the Commission decided that the infringements constituted a single and continuous violation of antitrust regulations, imposing a fine of 1,49 billion euros. This amount was one of three fines imposed on Google in the space of two years, which totaled €8,25 billion.
“The misconduct lasted ten years and prevented other companies from competing on the merits and innovating,” Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.
The assessment of the European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice has European Commission criticized for failing to take into account all relevant circumstances in the assessment of the contractual clauses and their duration. The Court considered that the Commission had not adequately demonstrated that the three clauses identified constituted an abuse of a dominant position. Furthermore, has not been proven that these clauses had significantly impeded competitors' access to the advertising intermediation market. These errors in assessment led to the cancellation of the fine.
The possible implications
La revocation of the fine represents an important change in the context of antitrust law and the regulation of business practices of large technology companies. The ECJ ruling could have important implications for future antitrust decisions, requiring a more thorough and comprehensive analysis of market circumstances and practices.
Qualcomm's fine confirmed instead
In parallel with the decision on Google, the European Court of Justice has Qualcomm's fine largely confirmed, reducing the amount from 242 to 238,7 million euros for abuse of a dominant position.
