EU court adviser backs $1.7 billion Google AdSense fine

An adviser to Europe's top court has faulted a lower tribunal's decision to scrap the European Commission's 1.49 billion euro ($1.7 billion) AdSense fine against Google, in a case the Court of Justice will decide next year.

Why it matters: Advocate General opinions are followed in most cases, so the recommendation revives a fine the General Court annulled in 2024 and keeps the Commission's long-running AdSense case against Google alive.

Data as of Reuters report of November 12, 2026 from Brussels, read in full via the estate browser route, reporting Advocate General Kokott's opinion in case C-826/24 P, Commission v Google and Alphabet (Google AdSense). The opinion is advisory and the court ruling is due next year. Single wire source, graded accordingly. Developing item.

Google suffered a setback on Thursday when Advocate General Kokott faulted the General Court’s 2024 decision to annul a 1.49 billion euro ($1.7 billion) European Commission fine over restrictive clauses in Google’s AdSense publisher contracts, saying the lower tribunal imposed excessive requirements on the scope of its examination and did not sufficiently tie its conclusion to the criteria for dominance. The Commission found in 2019 that the clauses, in place from 2006 to 2016, prevented rivals from placing search advertisements on publishers’ websites; Google removed them in 2016.

The Court of Justice, which usually follows the majority of such recommendations, will rule next year. The AdSense penalty was one of six EU antitrust fines that have cost Google 10.38 billion euros over nearly two decades.

EU court adviser backs $1.7 billion Google AdSense fine

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