EU's Highest Court Kills Google's Android Appeal. All €4.1 Billion of It.
Google has officially run out of road in its fight against the EU's landmark Android antitrust fine. The Court of Justice of the European Union, the continent's highest court, has dismissed the appeal, confirming a penalty of 4.1 billion euros ($4.7 billion). No further appeals are possible. That's it.
The original fine, handed down in 2018, was actually slightly larger at 4.34 billion euros. Google spent years contesting it, and a lower court did shave a small amount off in 2022. So not entirely wasted effort, but not exactly a triumph either.
The core complaint was about how Android is bundled with Google apps by default. Every Samsung, Xiaomi, or other Android handset ships with Google Search and Chrome baked in as the defaults, because that's what the licensing agreement demands. European regulators decided that constituted an abuse of dominant market position. Google's standard defence was that Android is full of choice, users can download whatever they like, and Sundar Pichai said in 2018 that the whole thing creates 'more choice, not less.' Which is technically true, and also slightly beside the point. Default settings stick. Google knows this better than anyone.
The situation has a familiar shape to anyone who remembers the EU going after Microsoft over Internet Explorer. Microsoft was eventually forced to show European users a browser ballot screen. By the time that was actually implemented, IE was already dying. Google faced a similar requirement on Android and created ballot screens accordingly. Its market position has remained completely intact.
This fine is also separate from the 2.95 billion euro penalty issued last year over Google's advertising practices. The EU has been keeping busy.
Google's public response was measured. The company said it had already adjusted its agreements back in 2018 to comply and that it remains committed to 'openness and innovation.' Whether that openness is genuine or legally compelled is debatable. Google is expanding support for third-party app stores and alternative Play Store payment methods, but only after Epic's antitrust lawsuit forced the issue. Meanwhile, Google is also pushing forward with developer verification requirements that would tighten control over app distribution on Android. Open-source advocates are not impressed.
The fine is settled, but European scrutiny of Google is nowhere near finished. The Digital Markets Act gives regulators significantly sharper tools than the old competition law framework. Google is now formally designated a 'gatekeeper' under the DMA, and the European Commission is actively considering using it to force Google to open Android to rival AI services and hand search data to competitors.
Paying a $4.7 billion fine after seven years of fighting it is a bad day. What comes next under the DMA could be considerably worse.