The European Union Court of Justice upheld an antitrust fine of 4.125 billion euros or the equivalent of 4.7 billion US dollars imposed on Google for abusive practices related to its Android mobile operating system.
The ruling dismissed an appeal filed by Google and its parent company Alphabet against an earlier ruling by the European Union's General Court, which had found the US tech giant had abused its dominant market position through restrictions related to Android.
The CJEU ruled that the EU General Court had correctly assessed the anti-competitive impact of Google's practices. The CJEU found that pre-installation requirements and anti-fragmentation agreements could restrict competition and strengthen Google's dominant position in the Android ecosystem.
European Union flags fly at the European Union headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on May 23, 2025.
The case stems from a 2018 European Commission ruling, which found that Google had required smartphone manufacturers to pre-install its Google Search app and Chrome browser as a condition for licensing certain Android apps.
The European Commission also found that Google's anti-fragmentation agreement restricted the development of alternative versions of Android, thereby limiting competition.
The European Commission initially imposed a fine of 4.34 billion euros, equivalent to US$4.94 billion. In 2022, the EU General Court partially annulled one aspect of the ruling concerning certain revenue-sharing agreements, but upheld the Commission's core findings and reduced the fine to 4.125 billion euros.
Furthermore, the CJEU rejected Google's argument that its actions were objectively justified and upheld the EU General Court's decision to recalculate the fine.
