After eight years, Google loses final appeal against $4.7 billion European Union fine

By Nora Redmond

In 2018, the European Commission imposed the fine on Google for abusing Android's dominance in the industry.

Alphabet on Thursday lost its appeal against an antitrust fine imposed on the tech giant by a top European court.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled to uphold a record EUR4.1 billion ($4.68 billion) fine over alleged anti-competition practices.

In 2018, the European Commission - the E.U.'s executive arm - found that Alphabet's Google had abused its dominance in the industry through promoting its Chrome browser and its search engine on mobile devices running Android, the operating system it owns.

Google and Alphabet, its parent company, brought an appeal against the judgement, arguing that the business model of Android supports competition because it allows other phone makers and operators to use its software

"The Court of Justice dismisses the appeal brought by Google and Alphabet against that judgment of the General Court, thereby confirming the penalty imposed on them, as revised by the General Court, for their anticompetitive practices relating to the Android operating system," the court said in its judgement.

A Google spokesperson said in a statement: "Android provides more choice for everyone and supports thousands of businesses. This judgment fails to recognize our significant investment to ensure Android remains open, interoperable and free. In any event, we adapted our agreements to comply with the initial decision back in 2018 and we remain focused on continued innovation and openness for our users, partners and developers."

Google was initially imposed with a financial penalty of just over EUR4.3 billion in 2018 but in 2022, a lower court reduced it to EUR4.1 billion.

Alphabet took a provision for that fine in the second quarter of 2018.

Shares in Alphabet (GOOGL) declined 1% in pre-market trading following the dismissal of the appeal. The stock has gained 15% this year.

-Nora Redmond

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