Google loses final appeal over $4.7 billion EU Android antitrust fine
Key takeaways
- The decade-long saga is finally at an end, but Google faces further sanctions in the EU.
- Steve Dent for Engadget Europe's highest court of appeal has upheld a record-setting €4.1 billion ($4.67 billion) fine imposed on Google back in 2018 for antitrust violations around its Android operating system.
- In 2016, the EU Commission charged Google with forcing mobile network operators to install Chrome, search and other Google apps as the default or exclusive search service on most devices sold in Europe.
The decade-long saga is finally at an end, but Google faces further sanctions in the EU.
Steve Dent for Engadget Europe's highest court of appeal has upheld a record-setting €4.1 billion ($4.67 billion) fine imposed on Google back in 2018 for antitrust violations around its Android operating system. "The appeal brought by Google and its parent company Alphabet against the judgment of the General Court is dismissed," the Court of Justice of the European Union wrote in a press release, adding that it has confirmed the financial penalty imposed for Google Search's abuse of its dominant position.
In 2016, the EU Commission charged Google with forcing mobile network operators to install Chrome, search and other Google apps as the default or exclusive search service on most devices sold in Europe. With a market share of over 80 percent in many countries, that effectively locked others out of the search market, creating a near-monopoly for the search giant.