Importance of Antitrustrust laws

By: Dr. AbdelGadir Warsama

IT companies, as Apple, Microsoft, Google, Linkedin & others are working very hard to dominate the markets & each of them wants to beat or marginalize the competitors by all means including law violations. In this pursuit, there are clashes with each other, clients, the public and also Countries and group of countries as the EU.

In this respect, if we take Google as example, we find that this company has been in big conflicts for many years with the US authorities & European Commission (EU) as well. This could be due to the strong legislations to protect the rights of individuals therein & fair-trading customary practices.

Over the past years, Google Co has been fined by billions, from the US Gov & likewise the EC in many antitrust cases for breaching antitrust laws. The imposed fines are due to the intention of Google Co to lay its dominance in one market to unfairly strengthen its hand in another. Clear indication of a sort of illegal and unfair clean competition. In the EU, for example, most of the decisions were based on Article (102) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which prohibits companies from abusing a dominant position. Google, as explained, repeatedly violated the law & treaties.

To mention as example, some major cases (from EU Sources), the Google Shopping (2017), a fine of €2.42 billion. Found that Google Co was favoring its own comparison-shopping service in search results. pushing rival services down the page. This kind of self-preferencing practice hurt competition and reduced consumer choice. The Android (2018), a fine of €4.34 billion. This case is the largest EU fine against Google Co. EU said, Google Co forced Android phone makers to pre-install Google Search and Chrome if they wanted access to the Play Store. As per the law, this is called an attempt to lock in dominance in both search and browsing.

The AdSense (2019), a fine of €1.49 billion. Google Co was fined for including restrictive clauses in contracts with third-party websites. These clauses prevented sites from displaying search ads from Google’s rivals, limiting competition in the online ad market.

The AdTech (2025), a fine of €2.95 billion. The most recent penalty in Google’s control of the digital advertising supply chain. The EU concluded Google Co unfairly favored its own ad exchange, over rivals, creating conflicts of interest that hurt advertisers, publishers, and consumers.

Google Co appeals every decision and the fines, even very big, are peanuts, insignificant and small compared to the multi billions profits every year. The EU, say the issue is bigger than enforcing fines by huge money. Each case clearly highlights what they see as Google’s systemic habit of bending markets in its favor, harming publishers, advertisers, and consumers. This behavior is illegal under EU antitrust rules.

The EU, mention that fines alone may not be enough. In AdTech case, it ordered Google to stop self-preferencing and said that a structural remedy, as a breakup of its business, could be an important step. President Trump criticized the latest €2.95 billion fine, accusing Europe of “hitting” American companies and threatening retaliatory tariffs. This tension shows how digital regulation is now blended with trade politics. For EU, these fines are not just about punishing

companies but for setting global standards for digital markets. Google Co is challenging all four major fines, and court rulings could reshape how competition law is applied in digital markets.

Hope the best outcome.