Google appealed its EU antitrust fine on Monday after Intel’s partial victory [JURIST report] last week against a similar EU sanction. Google’s appeal comes two months after the initial [JURIST report] antitrust fine by the European Commission [official website] for abusing its “dominance in general internet search” to unfairly promote its shopping service instead of promoting Google Shopping on its merits. Google gave its Google Shopping prominent placement in its own search results and subsequently demoted the placement of other similar services, and the Commission deemed the company’s actions to be illegal. While Google’s case differs from Intel’s, Intel’s judgment raised the bar [Reuters report] for the EU to prove wrongdoing.

High-profile antitrust litigation has been an ongoing concern in 2017. In May EU antitrust regulators fined Facebook $122 million for misleading information [JURIST report] regarding a deal for WhatsApp. In February the National Collegiate Athletic Association and 11 conferences agreed to a $208.7 million settlement [JURIST report] in a class action suit brought by former college athletes alleging their scholarships were illegally capped. In January a US federal court ruled [JURIST report] that plaintiffs may sue Apple for violating antitrust regulations by forcing users to purchase apps exclusively through their app store.