EU court annuls €1.5 billion antitrust fine for Google

A European Union court in Luxembourg has annulled a nearly €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) antitrust fine for Google.

The judges ruled on Wednesday that the European Commission had not provided sufficient evidence that Google had abused its dominant position in search engine advertising with its AdSense for Search product.

The legal dispute goes back to a complaint filed with the German Federal Cartel Office in 2010, which prompted an investigation by the European Commission.

In 2019, the Brussels-based competition watchdog concluded that Google had infringed EU competition law and imposed a fine of €1.49 billion.

Google appealed to the European Union's General Court for the penalty to be overturned. The latest ruling can still be appealed before the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court.