Google must pay record €4.1B (£3.5B) fine over antitrust issues
Google has been ordered to pay a record €4.1 billion (£3.5 billion) fine by the European Commission for antitrust violations related to its Android mobile operating system. The Commission found that Google abused its market dominance by requiring manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Chrome apps as a condition for licensing the Google Play Store.
Background
- The European Commission fined Google €4.1 billion (£3.5 billion) in 2018 for abusing its market dominance with Android. This remains the largest antitrust fine ever imposed by the EU.
- Google required phone manufacturers (like Samsung and Huawei) to pre-install Google Search and Chrome as a condition for licensing the Play Store, and paid them to exclusively pre-install Google Search. The EU ruled this shut out competing search engines and browsers.
- This is a separate case from Google's other major EU antitrust fines: €2.4 billion for manipulating shopping search results (2017) and €1.49 billion for abusing dominance in online advertising (2019).
- The fine was initially levied in 2018; this news refers to the European General Court upholding the penalty in 2022 (with a slight reduction from €4.34B to €4.125B). Google's subsequent appeal to the EU's highest court (ECJ) was dismissed in September 2024, making the fine final.