Google loses billions in Europe: fine of 4.1 billion euros remains

Google has suffered another legal defeat in Europe. The European Court of Justice has dismissed the tech company's latest appeal, which means that a fine of more than 4.1 billion euros will be definitively upheld. The case revolves around how Google used its Android operating system to give its own apps a competitive edge.

The European Commission imposed a record fine of 4.34 billion euros on Google in 2018. According to Brussels, the company abused its dominant position with Android by requiring smartphone manufacturers to pre-install apps such as Google Search and the Play Store. This would have given competing services less of a chance.

Google appealed the fine for years via the European court. In 2022, the amount was reduced by a lower court to about 4.1 billion euros. The European Court of Justice has now ruled that this adjusted fine is also justified.

In a statement, the court writes that the appeal of Google and parent company Alphabet is rejected. This means that the sanction for the anti-competitive practices around Android will remain in force for good.

The case against Google has been going on for more than a decade. The European Commission opened the investigation in 2015 and has since imposed hefty fines on the US technology company several times.

Last year, Google was also fined 2.95 billion euros for alleged anti-competitive practices within its advertising technology.

At the same time, the attention of European regulators is increasingly shifting to the Digital Markets Act. With this new law, the European Union wants to limit the market power of large technology companies. In addition to Google, Apple and Meta are also under the magnifying glass.

The strict European approach of American technology companies has long caused political tensions. President Donald Trump has previously criticized European regulations and last month threatened to impose 100% tariffs on goods from countries that impose digital taxes on American companies.

Countries such as France and Spain already apply such a tax. There is also criticism of the high European fines from the United States. Earlier this year, for example, the US ambassador to the European Union, Andrew Puzder, warned that Europe could slow down innovation in the field of artificial intelligence if it continues to confront companies with heavy regulations and billions in fines.