EU overturns €1.5bn antitrust fine for Google

The European Union has overturned a five-year-old €1.5bn antitrust fine for Google after a challenge from the American tech giant, the region's second-highest court announced on Wednesday.

The General Court initially fined the Alphabet company back in 2019 for abusing its leading position in the search market between 2006 and 2016.

The court claimed that Google unfairly prevented publishers from using search ads from competitors to its AdSense platform. However, Google appealed the decision.

The General Court said it upheld the "majority of the findings" but has reversed the decision to impose the fine.

In a statement, judges said that the European Commission did not adequately demonstrate that the contract clauses in question had deterred innovation, helped Google to maintain or strengthen its market position, or harmed consumers.

Alphabet's shares were rising 0.6% in pre-market trade in New York.