Google has been hit with a €1.5 billion antitrust fine from the European Union over restrictive contracts it forced on customers through its AdSense business.

Ina press conference this morning, EU antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the tech giant had abused its dominant position in the market. It forced customers of its AdSense business to turn down advertising from Google’s rivals, said Vestager, “[denying] denied other companies the possibility to compete on the merits and to innovate.”

The fine is the third major penalty the EU has levied against the tech giant in recent years, and closes its last ongoing probe of the company. Google was fined a record €4.3 billion last year for abusing its market dominance in mobile,…

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