In separate cases, two of the world’s biggest tech giants have been ordered to pay billions of dollars in fines over cases in Europe that originated last decade.

The goal of many small businesses is to grow as large as possible, but Google's and Apple's legal woes remind us that throwing your weight around as a market giant can have costly consequences.

The cases had established the European Union as the world’s leading tech watchdog, but have since raised questions about its protracted appeals process.