Google search empire stuck with $4.7 billion fine after losing final Android appeal in Europe
Source: Courthouse News Service
July 2, 2026
(CN) — The smartphone that put Google in millions of pockets also left it with one of Europe’s biggest antitrust fines after the EU’s highest court rejected the company’s final Android appeal Thursday.
The European Court of Justice dismissed Google and Alphabet’s appeal in full, leaving intact a 2022 lower court ruling that largely upheld the European Commission’s Android antitrust decision. Google had asked the bloc’s highest court to overturn that judgment or further reduce the 4.125 billion euro (about $4.72 billion) fine, down from the commission’s original 4.34 billion euro (roughly $4.97 billion) penalty.
The judges agreed with regulators that Google used Android not simply to build a successful mobile operating system but to protect its dominance in online search. “The appeal must be dismissed in its entirety,” the court wrote.
Google argued that users could still download rival search engines and browsers and that phone makers remained free to install competing apps. The court found that argument overlooked how people actually use smartphones. Most users rarely replace pre-installed apps or change default settings, giving whoever controls the default position a significant competitive advantage. “An assessment as to whether conduct is abusive cannot be made in the abstract,” the judges wrote.
Read more: https://courthousenews.com/google-search-empire-stuck-with-4-7-billion-fine-after-losing-final-android-appeal-in-europe/
= new reply since forum marked as read
