Google's AdSense penalty is on the table again

There was a new negative development for the company in the Google EU fine case. A chief prosecutor who submitted an opinion to the European Union's highest court backed a 1.49 billion euro ($1.7 billion) antitrust penalty. However, this sentence was canceled by the lower court in 2024.

Google EU fine dates back to 2019

In 2019, the European Commission accused Google of unfair practices in the online search advertising market. According to the commission, the company was restricting competition. Some clauses in Google's contracts prevented rival advertisers from showing their ads on Google's publisher sites. These substances were allegedly used to maintain the company's dominant position in the market.

AdSense is Google's platform that serves search advertising to publishers. Following the EU's warning, the company removed the controversial clauses from its contracts in 2016. Despite this, the EU continued the investigation and imposed a fine of 1.49 billion euros in 2019. Therefore, the case was not closed by removing the contracts.

Opinion of Attorney General Kokott

The General Court annulled the Commission's decision in 2024. The European Commission also appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg against this decision. Thus, the case was moved to a higher court.

Chief Prosecutor Kokott criticized the lower court's assessment. According to him, the court had not examined the criteria used in fining the company. However, this opinion is not binding. The Court of Justice will have the final say.

The decision is expected next year

The opinion of the Chief Prosecutor is only a guide. Therefore, the direction of the final decision cannot be known in advance.

The decision is expected to be announced next year. This decision will determine whether Google will pay the penalty. The result will also bring the validity of the decision annulled in 2024 back to the table.