Google says Brussels has not proved restrictions on competition

A Google reiterated today that Brussels has not proved restrictions on competition and will continue to support the annulment of a fine of almost EUR 1.5 billion, despite the opposite opinion of a European Advocate General.

“The General Court correctly annulled the original decision, concluding that the European Commission did not demonstrate that our contracts restricted competition,” said a Google spokesman in a written reply to Lusa.

The same source also assured that they will “continue to support the judgment of the General Court” and are “committed to closing this process that has been going on for a long time”.

According to a statement released today, the lawyer recommends the annulment of the General Court’s decision – which annulled the fine imposed on Google – for considering that the judgment in question “has wrongly considered that the Commission has not demonstrated the existence of exclusion effects arising from Google’s contractual practices related to its platform for intermediation in AdSense online advertising”.

Juliane Kokott also recommended that the case be referred to the EU General Court for review.

Since 2003, Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has been operating a digital intermediation platform in online advertising called AdSense, having developed different services, among which stands out an intermediation service in advertising associated with online research called ‘AdSense for Search’ (AFS).

The European Commission received complaints that the Google Service Agreement (ASG) signed with operators contained clauses restricting or prohibiting the display of advertisements from competing AFS services.

Following an investigation, Brussels fined Google EUR 1,494 billion, of which EUR 130 million was jointly and severally responsible for Alphabet.

Google and Alphabet appealed against this decision in the General Court, which annulled it in September 2024.

The European Commission has appealed to the EU Court of Justice and the judges will act in the case and the conclusions of the Advocates-General are not binding.