Google has been ordered by Europe's highest court to pay a penalty of €2.4 billion (£2 billion) for misusing its shopping comparison service's dominant market position.

When the European Commission first imposed the penalties in 2017, the internet giant filed an appeal.

It was the biggest amount the Commission had ever levied at the time, but a €4.3 billion fine against Google has since topped it.

It concludes a protracted legal battle that was started in 2009, while the UK was still a member of the EU, by the British company Foundem.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ), which rendered the decision today, stated that the Commission was correct to label Google's actions as "discriminatory" and that its appeal "must be dismissed in its entirety".

It mandated that Google and its parent company, Alphabet, reimburse the expenses paid by the European Commission in addition to their own.

The US government filed a lawsuit against Google on Monday in relation to its ad tech company, alleging that it is operating an illegal monopoly. The trial is still going on.

Regulators in the UK came to the tentative conclusion last week that Google had engaged in anti-competitive behaviour to control the internet advertising technology industry.

(Sources: bbc.co.uk)