Google Loses Final EU Antitrust Appeal

Ryan Whitwam ( PDF, Reddit ):

Back in 2018, Google was handed a record-setting 4.34 billion-euro ($4.9 billion) fine in Europe for abusing its monopoly on Android. The company has spent the intervening years challenging that decision, but the continent’s highest court has put a stop to that. The Court of Justice of the European Union has affirmed the penalty, meaning Google is out of options.

The EU took issue with Google search and Chrome being the default options on Android. Even devices made by other companies, such as Samsung and Xiaomi, include Google apps as the default per the Android licensing agreement, giving Google an unfair advantage, according to European antitrust regulators. This is not to be confused with a 2.95 billion euro ($3.45 billion) fine against Google’s advertising monopoly issued by the European Union last year.Arjun Kharpal:

In 2022, a lower EU court reduced the fine to the current 4.1 billion euros from 4.34 billion euros previously.

Google has argued that the Android operating system provides choice for users and supports developers and businesses across Europe.

Via John Gruber:

Google last year booked $132 billion in profit; this fine is about 3 percent of that..

There’s never a reason not to string the appeal process out, but it’s especially true when your profits are growing at an exceptional rate. By growing their profits around 5×, they’ve reduced the relative sting of this fine by 5×

Previously:EU Antitrust Fines for Google Search and Play StoreAndroid AI Violates DMAGoogle Search and Ads MonopolyThe European Commission Versus Android