Google Appeals Record EU Antitrust Fine

Alphabet Inc.'s Google on Monday filed an appeal of the European Union's record EUR2.42 billion ($2.91 billion) antitrust fine against the company for allegedly abusing the power of its dominant search engine, setting up a legal battle that could drag on for years.

The appeal comes shortly before the deadline under EU law to file an appeal against the decision, which was issued by the European Commission, the bloc's executive body, in late June.

A Google spokesman confirmed that the company had filed an appeal but declined to discuss the legal rationale it had offered to overturn the ruling. Google had previously said it disagrees with the decision and had indicated it would consider appealing.

The European Commission didn't immediately comment.

A spokeswoman for the EU's Court of Justice said Google hadn't yet filed any emergency injunction to suspend the decision and declined to provide further details.

Without an injunction, Google would still be obliged to pay the fine and comply with other elements of the June ruling, which ordered the company to stop tipping the scales in favor of its own shopping comparison service at the expense of rivals.

Late last month, Google submitted a plan for how it planned to implement the ruling before a deadline near the end of September.

Write to Sam Schechner at sam.schechner@wsj.com and Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 11, 2017 09:59 ET (13:59 GMT)