Google's €1.49B AdSense fine, later annulled
€1.5B
≈ $1.6B at the time
European Commission
EU · 2019
Status: Annulled
What happened
The Commission fined Google for imposing clauses on websites using AdSense for Search that blocked them from displaying rival search ads. In September 2024 the EU General Court annulled the decision, and the Commission has appealed to the Court of Justice.
How it affected users
The alleged conduct reduced competition in search advertising, which indirectly raised costs and limited the range of ad-funded services available to users.
Status timeline
Mar 20, 2019
€1.49B fine imposed for restrictive AdSense clauses.
Sep 18, 2024
Annulled by the EU General Court (T-334/19), which upheld most of the Commission's findings but held it had not considered all relevant circumstances when assessing how long the abusive clauses lasted.
Effective amount: none owed
Dec 3, 2024
The Commission appealed the annulment to the EU Court of Justice (C-826/24 P); the appeal is pending.
Sources
- European Commission press release (IP/19/1770)regulator
- General Court press release 143/24: the General Court annuls the AdSense decision (T-334/19)court
Last verified 2026-10-15. Spotted an error? Report a correction.
Cite this entry
Deepak Gupta, "Google's €1.49B AdSense fine, later annulled," Tech Fines Directory, guptadeepak.com, 2019-03-20. https://guptadeepak.com/tech-fines/violation/google-eu-adsense-2019/