A legal expert for the highest court in the European Union stated on Thursday that Google should be penalized with a significant fine in an ongoing antitrust lawsuit, where authorities determined that the company unfairly favored its own shopping suggestions over competitors’ results in search queries.

Juliane Kokott, the advocate general for the European Court of Justice, advised against granting the U.S. search giant’s appeal against the penalty imposed in 2017. In her legal opinion, Kokott suggested maintaining the 2.4 billion euro ($2.6 billion) fine imposed by the European Commission, the highest competition authority in the 27-member bloc, on Google.

The company was accused by the commission of unfairly redirecting visitors to its own Google Shopping service, harming competitors. This was one of three large fines, amounting to billions of euros, that the commission imposed on Google in the last ten years as they began to increase their efforts in regulating the tech industry.

Google has taken its case to the highest court in the EU, following a dismissal by the lower General Court. While the opinions of the Court of Justice’s advocate general do not carry legal weight, they are typically heeded by the judges. A final ruling is anticipated in a matter of months.

According to the Court of Justice, as determined by the Commission and upheld by the General Court, Google was using its dominant market position in general search services to give preference to its own comparison shopping service by prioritizing the display of its own results. The Court’s opinion was summarized in a press release.

According to the statement, Google’s practice of “self-preferencing” is considered a form of independent abuse.

In 2017, Google implemented modifications in order to adhere to the European Commission’s ruling that stated competitors must be treated fairly. As a result, the company began conducting auctions for shopping search listings, where it would compete with other comparison shopping services for placement.

Google stated that they will consider the Advocate General’s opinion and wait for the court’s final decision. They also mentioned that regardless of the appeal, they will continue to invest in their solution, which has been effective for multiple years, and collaborate positively with the European Commission.

The committee refused to provide a statement.

Google had another setback this week with the announcement that they had to lay off hundreds of employees from their hardware, voice assistance, and engineering teams as a cost-saving measure. This decision also received negative feedback.

Source: wral.com