The European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that Google's earlier defeat against a European Commission penalty should stand, confirming a €4.1 billion (US$4.7 billion) fine for abusing Android's market power. The decision is legally binding and marks a significant win for the Brussels-based regulator, which has been fighting Google through the EU's courts since the fine was first levied in 2018.
Court Dismisses Google's Appeal
“The appeal brought by Google and its parent company Alphabet against the judgment of the General Court is dismissed, thereby confirming the penalty imposed for Google Search’s abuse of a dominant position in the context of the Android operating system,” the court said in a statement. The ruling upholds the European Commission's 2018 decision that Google engaged in three types of illegal behavior to cement the dominance of its search engine.
European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said the regulator would “carefully assess” the details of the court win. The decision also paves the way for a wave of potential lawsuits from victims of Google’s behavior.
Impact on Android Business Model
The ruling constrains Google's Android business model, which provided free software in exchange for conditions imposed on mobile phone manufacturers. The commission found that Google illegally forced handset makers to pre-install the Google Search app and Chrome browser as a condition for licensing its Play Store. Additionally, Google made payments to large manufacturers and operators to exclusively pre-install the Google Search app, and prevented manufacturers from running alternative versions of Android not approved by Google.
Google said the ruling “fails to recognize our significant investment to ensure Android remains open, interoperable and free. In any event, we adapted our agreements to comply with the initial decision back in 2018 and we remain focused on continued innovation and openness for our users, partners and developers.”
Reactions and Next Steps
FairSearch, a group of complainants that brought the case to the commission in 2013, called the ruling “an important victory in Europe’s highest court against Google’s anti-competitive conduct in mobile markets.” The decision is a final judgment and cannot be appealed further, marking a definitive end to one of the EU's most high-profile antitrust cases against a US tech giant.
Earlier this year, Google was told to lift technical barriers to rival AI search assistants on Android and provide key data to other search engine providers. The fine was originally set at €4.3 billion in 2018, but the EU's lower General Court cut it to €4.1 billion in September 2022 after finding that regulators hadn't provided enough evidence for specific abuses.
