Google has won its challenge against a €1.49bn fine from the EU for blocking rival online search advertisers, the BBC reports.
The bloc accused Google of abusing its market dominance by restricting third-party rivals from displaying search ads between 2006 and 2016.
Europe’s second-top court ruled the European Commission – which levied the fine – “committed errors in its assessment.”
The Commission said it would “reflect on possible next steps,” which could include an appeal to the EU’s top court.
Google welcomed the ruling. “We are pleased that the court has recognized errors in the original decision and annulled the fine,” it said in a statement.
“We will review the full decision closely,” it added.
It is a rare win for the tech giant, which was hit with fines worth a total of 8.2 billion euros between 2017 and 2019 over antitrust violations.
