The EU Court of Justice upholds the massive fine of 4.1 billion against Google for Android

The Court of Justice of the European Union has definitively upheld the record fine of €4.125 billion imposed on Google for abuse of a dominant position in the market for Android mobile devices. The judges in Luxembourg have dismissed the appeal lodged by Google and its parent company, Alphabet, against the ruling of the General Court of the European Union, which, in 2022, had essentially upheld the European Commission’s decision, whilst reducing the fine from the initial €4.34 billion to €4.125 billion. At the heart of the case are the conditions imposed by Google on manufacturers of Android smartphones.

In 2018, the European Commission had found that the group had abused its dominant position by favouring the Google Search engine and the Chrome browser through pre-installation agreements and licence clauses relating to its own applications on Android devices. Brussels had classified these practices as a single ongoing infringement, imposing a fine of 4.342 billion euros on Google, of which 1.922 billion was also jointly and severally payable by Alphabet. The General Court of the European Union had upheld the substance of the Commission’s decision, but annulled the part relating to certain revenue-sharing agreements with device manufacturers and mobile network operators, which were conditional upon the exclusive pre-installation of Google Search on a specific range of devices.

Following this partial annulment, the General Court had recalculated the fine at 4.125 billion euros, of which 1.521 billion was to be paid by Alphabet jointly and severally with Google. In today’s judgment, the Court of Justice held that the General Court had not erred in law in finding that the contested practices were capable of restricting competition and strengthening Google’s dominant position. It also upheld the assessment regarding the agreements that prevented manufacturers from marketing devices based on versions of Android not approved by Google, rejecting the justifications put forward by the company and definitively confirming the fine at the level recalculated by the General Court.

Google was quick to respond. “Android offers greater choice for everyone and supports thousands of businesses. This ruling fails to recognise the significant investments made to ensure that Android remains open, interoperable and free. However, we amended our agreements to comply with the initial ruling back in 2018 and remain focused on continuous innovation and openness for our users, partners and developers,” said a Google spokesperson.