The EU's 10 biggest antitrust actions on tech | TechCrunch

The EU 's antitrust tech enforcement outcomes have varied, but one lasting legacy is that some of these major cases served as inspiration for the bloc’s Digital Markets Act : A flagship market contestability reform that could see major tech players hit harder and faster in the coming years .

The list is ordered based on the size of the fine or liability involved.

In March 2019 , the EU sanctioned Google over its search ad brokering business.

A penalty of 1.49 billion (or around $1.7 billion ) was duly imposed.

But in September 2024 , despite upholding the majority of the Commission ’s findings, the General Court annulled the AdSense decision in its entirety.

The Commission still has another (open) case probing Google 's AdSense case.

The EU argued that Luxembourg granted Amazon "undue tax benefits" between 2006 and 2014 .

The Commission found that Amazon ’s corporate structure in the country had allowed it to pay four times less tax than other companies based there.

The EU 's top court struck down the Commission decision, finding that the EU had not established that the tax ruling was illegal State Aid.