EU court upholds record 4.1 billion euro fine against Google

Google's long legal battle against the 4.1 billion euro fine imposed by the European Union has come to an end. The European Court of Justice rejected the tech giant's appeal, upholding the European Commission's penalty decision. This development is considered a turning point in the competition cases pursued by the Brussels-based regulatory body against multinational technology companies.

European Union institutions first fined Google in 2018 for abusing its market dominance with the Android mobile operating system. According to the ruling, Google required smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser on their devices. It was also determined that the company made payments to large manufacturers and operators that agreed to pre-install only Google's own search engine.

According to the Commission's findings, the company also weakened market competition by preventing manufacturers from using alternative Android versions not approved by Google. It was stated that due to these practices, Google used the Android platform to gain an advantage in expanding its own services.

In September 2022, the EU General Court, which heard the case, found most of the Commission's claims to be valid. However, it reduced the fine from 4.3 billion euros to 4.1 billion euros, ruling that evidence regarding some irregularities was insufficient. The final appeal was definitively rejected by the Court of Justice this week.

This decision once again highlights the scale of regulatory pressure that major technology companies may face in Europe. Industry observers state that similar antitrust investigations may increase following this case.