The big tech firm has racked up billions in EU fines and will likely face further penalties as antitrust investigations into its search practices continue.
Europe’s top court has ruled against Google, confirming the fine imposed by the European Union (EU) eight years ago over anti-competitive behaviour stands.
The European Commission (EC) handed Alphabet – Google’s parent company – a €4.34bn fine in 2018 for its agreements, which forced phone manufacturers to pre-install Google search, the Chrome browser and the Play app store on their Android devices.
The contracts essentially blocked the companies from using rival Android systems.
Google challenged the ruling and a lower tribunal reduced the penalty to €4.1bn in 2022.
The tech giant then appealed to the highest court in Europe – the Court of Justice of the European Union based in Luxembourg.
Today, the court dismissed Google’s appeal.
Google had argued in court that its agreements were no different to Apple, which also gives preference to its own services such as Safari on iPhones and Macs.
The firm also said users were not forced to use its products on Android devices and could download apps from its competitors.
However, the judges rejected the argument and said: “The appeal brought by Google and its parent company Alphabet against the judgment of the General Court is dismissed, thereby confirming the penalty imposed for Google Search’s abuse of a dominant position in the context of the Android operating system.”
A spokesperson for Google said the ruling has failed to consider its investment in ensuring “Android remains open, interoperable and free”.
“In any event, we adapted our agreements to comply with the initial decision back in 2018 and we remain focused on continued innovation and openness for our users, partners and developers,” the company added.
Google has racked up almost €11bn in EU fines in the last decade for various antitrust infringements under the Digital Markets Act.
In May, the EU announced it is planning to fine Google a high triple-digit million euro sum as part of its antitrust investigation, in which the big tech company is accused of abusing its market position to favour its own services in online search and search advertising.
