Google challenges EU antitrust fine

The EU hit Google with the record fine in June for illegally favoring its shopping service in search results. The fine broke the previous EU record of €1.06 billion for a monopoly case, against US chipmaker Intel  in 2009.

Brussels accused Google of giving its own service too much priority in search results at the expense of other price comparison services, such as TripAdvisor and Expedia.

It gave the company 90 days to comply or face further fines.

Google last week notified the EU it would attempt to meet the demands of the EU decision. And lodging the appeal does not suspend the fine, meaning Google is still obliged to pay, although it can put the money in a blocked account until a decision is made.

"The commission will defend its decision in court," a spokesperson for the commission said. A spokesman for the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed to the French news agency AFP that the appeal had been submitted. 

A spokesman for Google confirmed the company had filed the appeal but said the company had no further comment to make.

A court battle between Brussels and Google could take years to resolve and adds to an increasingly bitter row between the US giant and European countries.

The EU is also expected to soon decide another case against Google over abusing its dominance of internet search to impose its Android mobile operating system.

jbh/uhe (dpa, AFP)