Top EU court dismisses Google appeal of $4.5 billion antitrust fine

The European Union’s top court has dismissed Google and Alphabet’s final appeal in the Android antitrust case, leaving in place a reduced multibillion-euro fine and ending an eight-year legal fight over how the company licensed its mobile operating system.

The Court of Justice of the European Union said on July 2, 2026, that it upheld the penalty as revised by the bloc’s lower court. The ruling confirms a fine of about €4.125 billion, down from the European Commission’s original €4.34 billion sanction imposed in 2018.

The case has been one of the European Union’s most closely watched competition actions against a major technology company. Regulators said Google used Android to reinforce the dominance of its search business by requiring phone makers to preinstall Google Search and Chrome on devices and by imposing restrictions tied to Android licensing.

The final ruling

The court’s decision means Google has exhausted its ordinary appeal route in the Android case. The judgment gives the European Commission a final legal victory after years of litigation over the way Android phones were sold and configured in Europe.

The General Court had already largely backed the Commission’s theory of harm in 2022, while reducing the size of the penalty. Wednesday’s ruling leaves that reduced fine intact and ends the company’s final challenge.

AP reported the dismissal after the court issued its ruling, and other major outlets including the Financial Times and MarketWatch also confirmed that the appeal had been lost. The official court record ties the judgment to July 2, 2026.

How the case began

The European Commission first imposed the Android fine on July 18, 2018, saying Google had used illegal practices to strengthen the dominance of its search engine on mobile devices.

At the center of the case were contractual terms for handset makers. Regulators said Google tied access to Android licensing to the preinstallation of Google Search and Chrome, while also limiting competition through related requirements.

That theory rested on the idea that default placement and preinstalled apps can shape user behavior before consumers ever make a choice, making it harder for rival services to compete on phones.

Google has long argued that Android is open-source and that the system supports competition by enabling lower-cost smartphones and a wider range of device options.

Google’s response

In response to the latest ruling, Google said Android remains open, interoperable and free. The company also said it had already adapted its agreements after the 2018 decision.

That position has been consistent through the long-running case. Google has portrayed Android as a platform that gives consumers and device makers more choice rather than less.

The company’s defense also rested on the claim that its model helped smartphone makers offer affordable devices and did not block rival products from reaching users.

Why it matters

The confirmed fine is smaller than the Commission’s original decision, but it remains a major penalty by any standard. More importantly, the ruling gives Brussels a completed enforcement example in a case that has helped shape the EU’s broader scrutiny of Big Tech.

The Android decision matters beyond Google because it tests how far regulators can go in policing platform bundling, default app practices and the terms used to license operating systems to handset makers.

For smartphone makers, the ruling reinforces that app preinstallation and search defaults are not just product choices but also antitrust issues when they are tied to access, licensing or distribution terms.

Consumer groups have argued that the case affects handset choice, search defaults and platform competition. European officials are likely to point to the ruling as support for continued enforcement against large digital platforms.

What comes next

Google is unlikely to have a further ordinary appeal route in this case. That leaves the revised fine in force and the Commission’s Android enforcement action with final legal closure.

The decision may also be cited in other Big Tech cases as regulators continue to examine platform conduct across the European Union. The case adds to pressure on large digital platforms operating in the bloc.

For Google, the practical result is that its post-2018 Android licensing model in Europe remains in place under a ruling from the EU’s highest court. For Brussels, it is a fresh example of a long antitrust fight ending in confirmation of its central enforcement theory.