Google Loses Final EU Appeal Over €4.1 Billion Android Fine

*The bloc’s top court upheld the 2018 penalty after finding that Google abused its market power through Android licensing terms.*

Europe’s highest appeals court rejected Google’s last challenge to the €4.1 billion fine on 2 July. The decision ends a case that began eight years ago and leaves the company with no further legal routes inside the European Union.

The European Commission originally imposed the penalty in 2018. It ruled that Google required phone makers to pre-install its search and browser apps as a condition for access to the Android platform. The Commission said those contracts blocked competing services from reaching users on the dominant mobile operating system.

The Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed the Commission’s findings. Judges stated that regulators correctly identified the abuse of dominance and that the fine amount was proportionate. Google had argued both the legal basis and the size of the penalty were flawed.

Why it matters

The ruling locks in the largest antitrust fine the EU has ever levied against a single company. For Google it removes any remaining uncertainty about the cost of the 2018 decision and signals that the bloc’s enforcement stance on mobile-platform contracts is now settled law. Phone makers and rival search providers gain no new immediate relief, yet the precedent restricts the contractual tools Google can use to maintain default placement of its services inside the EU.

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Sources:

• Engadget
• Bloomberg Technology

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