Google loses final appeal over EU's Android antitrust fine

The European Union’s top court has dismissed Google’s final appeal in its long-running Android antitrust case, leaving the company with a €4.125 billion fine, about $4.7 billion.

The ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union is the last judicial step in a dispute that began with a European Commission decision in 2018 and moved through the General Court before reaching the bloc’s highest court.

What the court decided

The judges upheld the penalty as revised by the General Court in 2022. That earlier ruling reduced the original amount slightly, but it kept Google liable for abusing its dominance in Android-related licensing and distribution practices.

Reuters reported the decision first on Thursday morning, and The Wall Street Journal later corroborated the outcome.

The case centered on Google’s requirement that smartphone makers pre-install Google Search and Chrome if they wanted to license the Google Play Store on Android devices. Regulators said that conduct helped reinforce Google’s search dominance on mobile devices.

How the case developed

The European Commission first fined Google in July 2018, saying the company had illegally used Android to strengthen its search business. The commission’s decision also addressed restrictions on rival Android forks.

Google challenged that finding, and the General Court largely sided with the commission while trimming the fine to €4.125 billion. That left the core liability intact and sent the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Thursday’s judgment ends that appeal route. No further appeal remains in this EU case.

Google’s response and the stakes

Google said the ruling failed to recognize its investment in keeping Android open, interoperable and free. The company also said it had already changed its agreements to comply with the 2018 decision.

The case matters beyond Google’s balance sheet. It is one of the European Union’s largest competition actions against the company and a key precedent for how regulators assess tying and pre-installation practices on mobile platforms.

It also has implications for Android device makers and app distribution arrangements in Europe, where Google’s licensing terms have already been shaped by the earlier enforcement process.

For EU antitrust officials, the decision reinforces a long-running approach that has targeted conduct seen as steering users toward Google’s own search and browser products.

For Google, it closes the chapter on a case that has stretched across multiple court levels and has already forced changes to how Android devices are sold and configured in the European market.