Google loses EU antitrust appeal, faces record fine of 7.3 trillion won

Google has lost an eight-year legal battle against the EU over a fine exceeding 7 trillion won ($4.5 billion), one of the largest antitrust penalties ever imposed.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled Wednesday that it was dismissing the appeal filed by Google and its parent company Alphabet against a lower court ruling, confirming the fine imposed for abusing Google's dominant market position in connection with its Android operating system.

Google had succeeded at the first instance in reducing the fine from 4.34 billion euros to 4.12 billion euros, but failed to overturn the penalty altogether. Even the reduced amount remains the largest fine the EU has ever levied.

The European Commission imposed the original fine in 2018, finding that Google had required smartphone manufacturers to pre-install its search engine and Chrome browser as a condition of including the Google Play app store, thereby shutting out competitors.

Google argued during the proceedings that Android users were not forced to use Google apps and could download alternatives with a single tap, but the court rejected that defense.

The Android case is one of several EU antitrust actions against Google. In 2017, the Commission fined the company 2.4 billion euros for favoring its own Google Shopping service in search results, and in 2019 it imposed a further 1.5 billion euros over a scheme that bundled Google search with advertising on third-party websites.

In September last year, the EU added another 2.95 billion euros in fines, finding that Google had abused its market dominance as an intermediary between websites and advertisers to benefit its own ad exchange, AdX.