Operating Systems

Google to pay €4.1bn EU fine for using Android to block rivals

The EU’s top court European Court of Justice has dismissed Google’s appeal against a €4.1bn fine initially imposed by the region’s watchdog European Commission, upholding a 2022 ruling that had cut fine down from €4.3bn.

The regulator had initially set the record fine at €4.3bn in 2018 after it found the company had used its Android operating system to:

  • require Android and tablet manufacturers to pre-install its Search app and Chrome browser as a condition to access to its app store
  • make payments to large manufacturers and mobile network operators for exclusively pre-installing its Search app on their devices
  • threaten manufacturers to deny them permission to pre-install its apps if they sold third-party devices powered by alternative “forked” versions of Android

The €4.3bn was reduced to €4.1bn by a lower court in 2022.

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The EU’s top court European Court of Justice has dismissed Google’s appeal against a €4.1bn fine initially imposed by the region’s watchdog European Commission, upholding a 2022 ruling that had cut fine down from €4.3bn.

The regulator had initially set the record fine at €4.3bn in 2018 after it found the company had used its Android operating system to:

  • require Android and tablet manufacturers to pre-install its Search app and Chrome browser as a condition to access to its app store
  • make payments to large manufacturers and mobile network operators for exclusively pre-installing its Search app on their devices
  • threaten manufacturers to deny them permission to pre-install its apps if they sold third-party devices powered by alternative “forked” versions of Android

The €4.3bn was reduced to €4.1bn by a lower court in 2022.