Google has lost its final appeal to the European Commission’s €4.1 billion fine from 2018. The appeal was Google’s last chance and was presented at the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Europe’s highest court.
The record-breaking fine sat at €4.34 (later reduced to €4.1) was imposed on Google by the European Union’s executive arm, the European Commission, back in 2018. The EC found that Google was abusing Android’s mobile dominance and giving its own apps an unfair advantage by requiring phone makers to pre-install Google Search, Chrome, and the Play Store. The EU sees it as Google’s practices making it harder for rival search engines, browsers, and Android-based platforms to gain traction.
Google’s view is that the ruling fails to recognize its investment in keeping Android open, interoperable, and free. Google has since appealed the fine multiple times. In 2022, a lower European court reduced the fine from €4.34 billion to its current €4.1 billion.
