Google’s attempts to challenge the European Union’s record €4.1 billion fine have failed after the European Court of Justice’s advocate general backed the regulators’ decision.
“Google held a dominant position in several markets of the Android ecosystem and used this to promote its search service by gaining access to user data,” Advocate General Juliane Kokott said.
Although the lawyer’s opinion is not binding, the EU court usually takes such recommendations into account when making its final decisions. The verdict in the case is expected to be announced within a few months.
The fine, originally set at €4.3 billion, was slightly reduced in 2022. This is part of a large-scale EU campaign against “big tech,” which has drawn criticism from US President Donald Trump, who called the fines “tariffs against American companies.”
The Android case has been one of the key cases for former European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager. Before leaving office, she fined Google more than €8 billion for various violations.
The lawsuit concerns three main claims the EU has against Google: Forcing smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Chrome as a condition of access to the Play Store Paying large manufacturers for exclusive pre-installation of Google search Blocking alternative versions of Android In 2022, the court upheld most of the European Commission’s arguments but reduced the fine, finding insufficient evidence on some counts.
In parallel with this traditional antitrust case, Google is also under scrutiny in connection with the EU’s new Digital Markets Act, which imposes strict restrictions on large technology companies.
