Top EU court upholds Google Android fine in landmark antitrust case

- The European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court, has upheld a €4.3 billion fine against Google (a record penalty) for abusing its dominance in mobile operating systems and app stores. This is the final appeal in a case that began in 2018. - The ruling centers on Google's practice of requiring smartphone manufacturers (like Samsung and Xiaomi) to pre-install Google Search and Chrome if they wanted access to the Google Play Store. The EU's competition authority argued this stifled competition from rivals like Firefox and DuckDuckGo. - The case is part of a broader EU crackdown on Big Tech. Other major cases include similar fines against Apple (€13 billion over Irish taxes) and Intel. It also paved the way for the bloc's new Digital Markets Act (DMA), a sweeping law that forces "gatekeeper" platforms to open up their ecosystems. - This is a final ruling; Google cannot appeal further. The case is considered a landmark because it tests the limits of how a dominant platform can control its ecosystem via contractual leverage, rather than outright payment.