Search giant Google – part of American Alphabet – has had a fine of 1.5 billion euros (equivalent to 17 billion kronor) overturned by the EU Court.
The fine – part of Danish EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager's offensive against how dominant US tech companies exploit their market position – was issued by the EU Commission in 2019.
The decision to overturn the fine is a setback for the EU Commission, which according to the court should have made mistakes in its investigation of the case.
The court's ruling comes after Google suffered a setback in the EU Court as recently as last week. Then, a fine of 2.4 billion euros was confirmed for Google favoring its own products in searches on Google.
According to the now overturned fine, Google – with a dominant position on the market for internet advertising – in violation of the rules should have prevented competitors such as Yahoo and Microsoft from placing ads on third-party websites.
The court's decision to overturn the fine can be appealed to a higher instance.
