Billions of Dollars in Fines for Google and Apple from European Court

After a 14-year legal process, the EU Court has upheld a fine of 2.4 billion euros against Google, which is accused of abusing its position in internet search.

According to the ruling, the company directed visitors exclusively to its own Google Shopping service through search results in 13 European countries, causing significant harm to competitors.

This decision confirms the EU Commission’s previous ruling from 2017, which imposed the same fine on Google. Google had appealed this decision, which has now been officially rejected.

Apple also received a hefty fine and will have to return 13 billion euros to the Irish government due to illegal state aid.

The EU Court also upheld the European Commission’s 2016 decision that Ireland had granted illegal state aid of 13 billion euros to Apple, which the company now has to repay. This aid concerned the tax treatment of profits from Apple’s activities outside the US.