Google remains liable to pay a record €2.4 billion European Commission (EC) fine despite going ahead with a widely expected appeal of the punishment.

The search giant filed its appeal with the General Court of the European Union on Monday (11 September) BT News reported, the deadline for such action under a timeline set by the EC in June when it issued the fine.

An EC representative told Mobile World Live the Commission “will defend its decision in court”, and explained the appeal does not let Google off the hook in terms of paying the fine.

The fine relates to an EC ruling Google abused its market dominance by favouring its own shopping channel in search results to the detriment of rival services. The ruling required Google to submit a plan to the EC outlining how it would end the anti-competitive practice within 60 days – a deadline the company met – and implement the plan within 90 days or face further financial penalties.

According to BT News, Google enjoyed massive hikes in traffic on its shopping channel in key EU countries, while rival sites in the same markets endured declines of up to 85 per cent.

A Google representative said the company would not comment on the appeal.