Google’s Appeal of EU’s Record Fine Nets 5% Reduction

Europe’s highest court agreed with European Union antitrust regulators and upheld most of the record $4.33 billion fine levied against Google for favoring its own Android operating system to edge out the competition.

Google’s appeal to overturn the decision resulted in a 5% reduction in the fine, about $215 million, because of a disagreement on one point, according to a court press release on Wednesday (Sept. 14).

“The General Court largely confirms the Commission’s decision that Google imposed unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices and mobile network operators in order to consolidate the dominant position of its search engine,” the court said.

“In order better to reflect the gravity and duration of the infringement, the General Court considers it appropriate however to impose a fine of  €4.125 billion on Google, its reasoning differing in certain respects from that of the Commission,” judges said.

See also: Google Gets Hit With Third EU Fine Over Its Business Practices

The Android case, which focused on the tech giant’s influence over the smartphone ecosystem, was the biggest of three antitrust fines totaling more than $8 billion that the European Commission has levied against Google since 2017.

Google was hit with its third fine by the EU in 2019, which closed a 10-year investigation led by EC competition chief Margrethe Vestager, PYMNTS reported at the time. The earlier two fines totaled $7.67 billion combined. 

The third fine of $1.7 billion, the smallest of the penalties, centered on allegations that Google abused its dominant position in the search engine market, PYMNTS reported. 

Vestager has been aggressive in going after Big Tech and hitting companies with big fines to level the playing field in the 27-country European Union.

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“We are disappointed that the court did not annul the decision in full,” Google said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. “Android has created more choice for everyone, not less, and supports thousands of successful businesses in Europe and around the world.” 

The parties can appeal to Europe’s highest court, the EU Court of Justice.