EU Court rejects Google’s final appeal in €4.1B Android antitrust case

Google has lost its appeal against a €4.1 billion fine that was imposed by the European Commission for violating European antitrust laws.

In 2018, the European Commission issued a €4.3 billion fine on Google for abusing the market power of its Android ecosystem.

According to the Commission, the Mountain View-based tech company forced smartphone manufacturers to install certain Google apps if they wanted to install Android on their devices, such as its web browser Chrome and the Google Search app.

Google appealed this decision at the General Court, but to no avail.

In September 2022, the court largely confirmed the Commission’s decision that Google imposed unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices and mobile network operators to consolidate the dominant position of its search engine. It did lower the fine from €4.3 billion to €4.125 billion.

“We are disappointed that the Court did not annul the decision in full. Android has created more choice for everyone, not less, and supports thousands of successful businesses in Europe and around the world,” a Google spokesperson said at the time.

In January 2025, Google appealed the General Court’s ruling, asking the judges to annul the multi-billion-euro fine, arguing that the European Commission made “grave errors” and failed to take into account that Android’s success stemmed from successful innovation rather than brute force.

On Thursday, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decided to dismiss Google’s appeal against the judgement of the General Court, thereby confirming the penalty imposed for its anticompetitive practices related to the Android operating system.

According to a Google spokesperson, the ruling failed to take into account Google’s investments 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,” the company spokesperson told Reuters.

At this point, Google has racked up close to €11 billion in fines for various antitrust infringements.

In September 2025, Google was slapped with a €2.95 billion fine for favoring its own advertising services. Around the same time, US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google wouldn’t have to sell its Chrome browser and could keep its Android operating system, as long as it shares data with rivals.