EU court upholds Google’s €4.1 billion Android antitrust fine
Europe’s top court sealed Google’s €4.1 billion Android penalty, capping an eight-year fight over how the phone system protected Search and Chrome.
The Court of Justice of the European Union upheld Google’s €4.1 billion Android antitrust fine on July 2, closing a long legal fight over the rules that shaped the mobile internet in Europe and beyond. The case centered on whether Google used Android, the operating system it bought in 2005, to lock in its search business and crowd out rivals on phones.
The European Commission said Google imposed illegal restrictions since 2011 on Android device makers and mobile network operators. To get access to the Play Store, manufacturers had to pre-install the Google Search app and Chrome browser. Some makers and operators were also paid to place Google Search exclusively on devices, while phone makers that wanted Google apps were blocked from selling even one handset running an unapproved Android fork. The setup used Android as a vehicle to cement Search’s dominance and denied competitors a fair chance to compete on product quality and innovation.
The European Commission fined Google €4.34 billion on 18 July 2018 and ordered it to end the conduct within 90 days or face penalty payments of up to 5% of Alphabet’s average daily worldwide turnover. The EU General Court later reduced the penalty to about €4.125 billion in 2022, but the final appeal failed in Luxembourg on July 2, 2026. The Commission said about 80% of smart mobile devices in Europe and worldwide run Android.
Google argued that Android gives users more choice and supports thousands of businesses. After the original ruling, Google adapted its agreements, and a Google spokesperson said the judgment “fails to recognise” its “significant investment to ensure Android remains open.” The European Union keeps pressing Big Tech on competition, with Google also hit by a €2.95 billion adtech fine and a separate €2.4 billion Shopping penalty that the court upheld in 2024.
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