Google loses fight against record €4.1B EU antitrust fine
The European Union's top court dismissed Google's appeal against a record €4.1 billion antitrust fine, upholding the penalty imposed for abusing its dominance in the mobile software market by requiring Android device makers to pre-install Google services.
Background
- The EU's top court (the European Court of Justice, or Luxembourg-based ECJ) confirmed a €4.1 billion ($4.4bn) fine against Google parent Alphabet — the largest antitrust penalty the EU has ever imposed.
- The case dates to 2018, when the European Commission ruled that Google abused its dominance in smartphone operating systems. It forced phone makers to pre-install Google Search and Chrome as a condition for licensing the Google Play Store, illegally freezing out rival search engines and browsers.
- This is separate from two other major EU Google fines: a €2.4bn penalty for manipulating shopping search results (2017) and a €1.5bn fine for blocking rival ad brokers (2019). Google has also fought those in court.
- The ruling solidifies the EU's aggressive stance as the world's most active tech regulator, empowering it to continue targeting US tech giants under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a new law that codifies the Commission's antitrust logic into ex-ante rules.