After 7 years of litigation, Google has lost a court case over a 2.42 billion euro ($2.7 billion) fine imposed by EU antitrust regulators, Reuters reports.

In 2017, the European Commission fined the world’s most popular search engine for using its own price comparison service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European competitors.

In 2021, the court upheld the decision of the EU antitrust authority. Google then appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg. The court ruling states that EU law provides for punishment not for having a dominant position, but for its misuse.

“In particular, the conduct of undertakings in a dominant position that has the effect of hindering competition on the merits and is thus likely to cause harm to individual undertakings and consumers is prohibited,” is stated in the court decision.

Over the past decade, Google has received 8.25 billion euros in antitrust fines from the EU. The company has also appealed decisions concerning its Android mobile operating system and AdSense advertising service and is currently awaiting a court decision.