'Google was wrong to...': Europe court advisor on $4.74 billion Android fine
Google
has faced a significant setback in its multi-year legal battle against the European Union's (EU) antitrust authorities, as a top legal adviser to the EU's highest court has backed a 4.124 billion euros ($4.74 billion) fine. Juliane Kokott, an advocate general at the European Union's Court of Justice in Luxembourg, recommended that judges uphold the penalty against the search giant for its contractual obligations on device manufacturers using its Android operating system.
According to a report by news agency Reuters, Kokott advised the court to confirm the reduced fine set by the lower tribunal. Judges, who usually follow four out of five such non-binding opinions, will rule in the coming months.
She asserts that Google was wrong to challenge the fine, stating that for years, the company held a dominant position across several Android ecosystem markets, which allowed it to unfairly benefit by ensuring users utilized its services, particularly Google Search.
Google expresses disappointment with the opinion
In response, a Google spokesperson expressed disappointment with the opinion, arguing that if it were to be fully adopted by the Court, it "would discourage investment in open platforms and ultimately harm Android users, partners and app developers."
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"Android has created more choice for everyone and supports thousands of successful businesses in Europe and around the world," a Google spokesperson was quoted as saying.
The dispute dates back to 2018 when the European Commission initially levied a record 4.34 billion euros fine against Google. The Commission alleged that Google had unfairly leveraged its digital dominance by imposing conditions on Android device manufacturers and network operators, effectively ensuring that search traffic from Android devices was directed to Google's own search engine.
Google first appealed this decision at the EU's General Court, where judges largely upheld the Commission's findings but reduced the original penalty to 4.12 billion euros in 2022. Google subsequently appealed this reduced fine to the Court of Justice.
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