According to Europe, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has a monopoly on online advertising space. The lawsuit against these practices was dismissed only because of a false investigation process, which saved Alphabet a fine of 1.5 billion euros.
The actual lawsuit dates back several years. Europe then opened a lawsuit against Google for an alleged monopoly position in the advertising space. The European Commission finally pronounced a fine of 1.5 billion euros in 2019. For the ruling, the Commission relied on an investigation examining AdSense for Search practices. This feature fills ad spaces in positions next to a Google search bar on non-Google websites.
Errors in investigation
Alphabet did not agree to the fine and now does not have to pay the €1.5 billion. The European General Court in Luxembourg ruled this on Wednesday. According to the General Court, the investigation was not carried out correctly. According to the investigation, Google’s rivals could not use Google’s advertising service.
Europe may still choose to rechallenge the ruling. In that case, the lawsuit would pass the Court of Justice of the European Union. So, it appears that it will take years before Europe can settle a lawsuit against Big Tech.
Advertising model more under the spotlight
Google’s advertising model, however, has come under much more fire since the 2019 ruling. Europe already opened new lawsuits against the structure and believes there will be no solution other than selling the ad tech. America supports that reasoning in recent lawsuits and is looking at options for a breakup of Google services. Another lawsuit was opened in America in September to take a closer look at the position.
Also read: U.S. DOJ is gunning for Google: what would a breakup mean?