Google loses appeal of huge EU fine over shopping searches

By KELVIN CHAN
AP Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — A top European Union court has rejected Google’s appeal of a 2.4 billion euro fine from regulators who found the tech giant gave its own shopping recommendations an illegal advantage in search results. The 27-nation bloc’s top competition watchdog had punished Google in 2017 for unfairly directing visitors to its own shopping service to the detriment of competitors. The EU’s General Court said Wednesday that it “largely dismisses” Google’s appeal of that antitrust penalty and is upholding the fine. The fine was part of an effort by European regulators to curb the online giant’s clout on the continent. It was followed by two other blockbuster antitrust penalties against Google totaling 8.25 billion euros.