Luxembourg: Google’s legal challenge against a multibillion-euro European Union antitrust penalty has ended in defeat after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) upheld a €4.1 billion fine over the company’s Android business practices.

The ruling marks a major victory for the European Commission in its long-running efforts to curb the market dominance of Big Tech companies.

Court dismisses Google’s appeal

Europe’s highest court on Thursday dismissed the appeal filed by Google and its parent company, Alphabet, against a judgment of the EU’s General Court.

“The appeal brought by Google and its parent company Alphabet… is dismissed, thereby confirming the penalty imposed for Google Search’s abuse of a dominant position in the context of the Android operating system,” the court said in its ruling.

The decision effectively confirms the €4.1 billion fine imposed after an earlier reduction by the General Court in 2022.

Case dates back to 2018

The European Commission originally fined Google €4.34 billion in 2018, alleging that the company used Android agreements to strengthen the dominance of its search engine.

According to the Commission, Google required smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search, the Chrome browser and the Google Play Store on Android devices. It also accused the company of restricting manufacturers from using competing versions of the Android operating system.

Google challenged the decision, leading the General Court to reduce the penalty to €4.1 billion while largely upholding the Commission’s findings.

The company subsequently appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which has now rejected its challenge.

Google responds to ruling

Following the judgment, a Google spokesperson said the court had failed to fully consider the company’s investment in maintaining Android as an open, interoperable and free operating system.

The company also noted that it had already modified its agreements in 2018 to comply with the European Commission’s original decision.

Google said it remains focused on innovation and supporting users, developers and business partners.

More regulatory scrutiny ahead

The Android case is one of several antitrust actions brought against Google by European regulators over the past decade.

The company has accumulated nearly €11 billion in EU antitrust fines across multiple investigations.

Google also faces fresh scrutiny under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), with regulators investigating allegations that it gives preferential treatment to its own products and services in search results and app distribution.

The latest judgment reinforces the European Union’s tougher regulatory stance towards major technology companies and is expected to influence future competition enforcement in the digital sector.