An adviser to Europe’s top court said Google’s appeal against a €4.34 billion EU antitrust fine should be dismissed, in a case linked to its Android mobile operating system.
Juliane Kokott, Advocate-General at the Court of Justice of the European Union, recommended upholding the fine, which a lower court had reduced to €4.1 billion in 2022.
The European Commission issued the original penalty in 2018, saying Google had used Android to suppress rivals. The lower tribunal supported the finding, and Google appealed to the CJEU.
Kokott said Google’s legal arguments were ineffective and rejected its claim that it should be compared with a hypothetical competitor. She said Google’s dominant position in the Android ecosystem, supported by network effects, gave it an unfair advantage in steering users to its search engine.
The court’s judges usually follow the opinion of their advisers, with a final ruling expected in the coming months.
The Commission said Google had made manufacturers pre-install Google Search and Chrome along with its app store, paid them to exclude rival search engines, and blocked use of alternative Android systems.
Google said Android had increased choice and supported businesses globally, but it was disappointed with the opinion. It warned that upholding the decision could hurt open platforms and users.
Google’s Android runs about 73% of the world’s smartphones. The company has faced a total of €8.25 billion in fines from EU antitrust regulators over the past decade, with other investigations still underway.
