Google has to pay a fine of 4.1 billion euros
The EU court confirmed that Google had to pay a fine of 4.1 billion euros that had already been imposed in 2018. The company exploited the market power of the Android operating system.
The court of the European Union has a billion dollar fine approvedwhich the EU Commission has imposed on Google.
Already in 2018 the EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager demanded the record fine on the grounds that the Internet giant had exploited the market power of the Android operating system.
Google is abusing Android’s market power
Specifically, the EU Commission’s decision was about the US search engine provider imposing illegal restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices and operators of mobile phone networks in order to strengthen the dominant position of its search engine.
Other companies are allowed to use the Android operating system free of charge, but there are restrictions when they bring services such as Gmail or Maps to the devices. Especially with regard to online applications such as the Playstore or Google Drive, the online platform unfairly protects itself against other providers of similar services.
Vestager also criticized the fact that Chrome was pre-installed as the standard browser on Android devices. It ensures that consumers use the search engine automatically instead of downloading the application of competing companies.
EU court reduces Google penalty
At the time, the EU Commission imposed a fine of 4.3 billion euros on Google for abusing Android’s market power – the highest fine ever imposed by a competition authority in Europe. However, the EU court has now lowered this amount to 4.1 billion euros.
After the EU Commission imposed the record fine in 2018, Google adjusted its business model despite legal objections. Since then, other manufacturers have been allowed to integrate individual services without Chrome and the web search.
The current judgment of the EU court is part of a long line of litigation between the European Competition Commission and Google. In three investigations over the past ten years, the EU antitrust authorities have imposed fines totaling 8.25 billion euros on the tech company.
Google still has the option to take action against the judgment of the EU court. However, corresponding proceedings at the European Court of Justice can take several years.
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