"Google's strategy for its comparison shopping service wasn't just about attracting customers by making its product better than those of its rivals," EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager stated. "Instead, Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results, and demoting those of competitors." This highlights the EU's stance on market manipulation by dominant players, emphasizing the shortcoming of competition laws in tech.
The CJEU judges upheld the lower court's decision stating that a company may hold a dominant position but must not abuse it. They stated, "In particular, the conduct of undertakings in a dominant position that has the effect of hindering competition on the merits and is thus likely to cause harm to individual undertakings and consumers is prohibited." This underscores the legal framework governing competition within the EU.
In ongoing proceedings, Google may have to divest parts of its adtech business over claims that it favors its own services. The EU commission found that since Google is unlikely to change its approach, "only the mandatory divestment of part of its services would address competition concerns." This suggests a significant shift in policy might be on the horizon for Google's operations in Europe.
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