Google has lost its appeal in the EU's largest antitrust case, ordered to pay $8.5 billion in combined fines and damages for abusing its search engine dominance to disadvantage competing shopping and travel services.

The Ruling

The European Court of Justice upheld findings that Google systematically promoted its own services in search results while demoting competitors, violating EU competition law over a 12-year period.

Global Impact

The ruling sets a precedent for similar cases pending in the US, UK, and Australia. Google must implement a fair-ranking algorithm for commercial searches within 6 months.