The European Union top court has rejected Alphabet subsidiary Google final appeal against a record fine of 4.1 billion euros ($4.69 billion) over antitrust violations linked to its Android mobile operating system.
The ruling marks a major victory for EU regulators in their long running effort to limit the market dominance of large technology companies.
The Luxembourg based Court of Justice of the European Union upheld a 2022 decision that had already reduced the original penalty from 4.34 billion euros, which was first imposed by the European Commission in 2018.
The court confirmed the Commission finding that Google abused its dominant position in the market through practices tied to its Android platform.
The European Commission had accused Google of requiring smartphone manufacturers to pre install Google Search on Android devices as a condition for accessing other Google services. Regulators argued this practice unfairly limited competition and reinforced Google control over the mobile search market.
With this ruling, Google exhausts its final avenue of appeal, and the fine now stands as legally binding. The decision reinforces the EU broader campaign to hold major technology firms accountable for anti competitive conduct across their platforms and services.
