Google Loses Antitrust Verdict Challenge After EU Court Upholds €4 Billion Fine

An EU court had issued a fine to Google in 2018 for using their Android mobile operating system to thwart rivals.

The European Union’s second highest court on Wednesday, 14 September, upheld the bloc’s largest antitrust fine, €4.125 billion, issued to Google in 2018 for using their Android mobile operating system to thwart rivals.

(Photo: iStock)

The European Union’s second highest court on Wednesday, 14 September, upheld the bloc’s largest antitrust fine, €4.125 billion, issued to Google in 2018 for using its Android mobile operating system to thwart rivals, Reuters reported. 

The European Court of Justice's General Court confirmed a decision by the EU's executive commission after Google, a unit of United States tech giant Alphabet, challenged the original ruling, which slapped Google with a fine of over €4 billion for using Android’s dominance to stifle competition. 

The court’s fine is only one of three antitrust penalties given to Google that the European Commission slapped between 2017 and 2019, totalling over $8 billion, AP reported. 

AP quoted a press summary of the court’s decision, which said, “In order better to reflect the gravity and duration of the infringement,” it is appropriate to give Google a fine of €4.125 billion, slightly lower than the executive commission's original €4.34 billion penalty."

The court said: 

"The General Court largely confirms the Commission's decision that Google imposed unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices and mobile network operators in order to consolidate the dominant position of its search engine."

The court further said that its reasoning, “in certain respects,” differed from the commission’s. 

Subsequently, a Google spokesperson said, "We are disappointed that the Court did not annul the decision in full. Android has created more choice for everyone, not less, and supports thousands of successful businesses in Europe and around the world.”

EU Executive Commission's Original Decision  

The Commission, in its 2018 decision, had said that Google used Android to cement dominance in “general internet search” via payments to large manufacturers and mobile network operators. 

It found that by requiring smartphone markets to acquire a bundle of Google apps if they want any at all, and further preventing them from selling devices with altered Android versions, Google broke EU rules.  

The bundle included 11 applications such as YouTube, Maps and Gmail. However, regulators focused on three apps that had the largest market share – Google Search, Chrome, and the Google Play Store.

(With inputs from Reuters and The Associated Press.)