The EU General Court has delivered mixed rulings in two antitrust cases against tech giants Google and Qualcomm. Google successfully challenged a €1.49 billion fine imposed by the EU for abusing its dominance in the online search advertising market. The court ruled that the EU Commission failed to demonstrate the harm caused by Google’s actions and annulled the fine. Google argued that the case involved a small subset of text-only ads on limited publisher websites and that it had already made changes to its contracts in 2016.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm’s attempt to overturn an EU antitrust fine was unsuccessful. The court upheld the fine, but reduced it slightly from €242 million to €238.7 million. The fine was imposed for engaging in predatory pricing practices against Icera, a British phone software maker. Both Google and Qualcomm can appeal the decisions to the EU Court of Justice (CJEU).
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These rulings highlight the mixed record of Margrethe Vestager, the outgoing EU antitrust chief, in defending her crackdown on Big Tech in court. While she scored major wins against Google in a separate case and against Apple’s tax deal with Ireland last week, these recent rulings demonstrate the complex and challenging nature of antitrust cases involving tech giants.