Google has suffered a setback in its legal battle over a €1.49 billion ($1.7 billion) European Union antitrust fine after an adviser to the bloc’s top court criticised a ruling that overturned the penalty.

Advocate General Juliane Kokott said the General Court had applied excessive requirements when assessing the duration of Google’s alleged anti-competitive practices.

The opinion concerns a €1.49 billion fine imposed by the European Commission in 2019 over Google’s online advertising business. The Commission appealed after the General Court annulled the penalty in 2024.

However, the Advocate General’s opinion is not binding. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is expected to deliver its final ruling next year.

EU accused Google of restricting advertising rivals

The European Commission imposed the fine after finding that Google had used restrictive clauses in contracts with publishers.

According to the Commission, those agreements prevented rival advertising services from placing search advertisements on publishers’ websites. The regulator said the practices helped Google maintain its dominant position in online search advertising.
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The alleged restrictions involved Google’s AdSense for Search platform, which provides search advertising services to publishers.

The Commission said the practices continued from 2006 to 2016. Google removed the contested clauses from its publisher agreements in 2016.

Advocate General criticises lower court’s assessment

The legal dispute centres on the General Court’s decision to overturn the Commission’s penalty.

Kokott argued that the lower court imposed excessive requirements when examining the duration of the alleged infringement.

She also said the court had not sufficiently connected its conclusions with the criteria used to determine whether a company holds a dominant market position.

The CJEU usually considers opinions from its Advocates General, although it remains free to reach a different conclusion.

Google has faced billions in EU antitrust penalties

The AdSense case forms part of a wider series of competition disputes between Google and European regulators.

The company has faced six EU antitrust penalties totalling €10.38 billion over nearly two decades.

The upcoming ruling could determine whether the €1.49 billion AdSense fine remains enforceable, adding another chapter to Google’s long-running legal disputes with European competition authorities.