Google just lost its last card. On July 2, the Court of Justice of the European Union rejected the tech giant’s final appeal in case C-738/22 P, upholding a €4.1 billion fine for anti-competitive practices tied to its Android operating system. The penalty stands as one of the largest antitrust fines ever levied against a single company in Europe.

The ruling closes out an eight-year legal saga that began when the European Commission first slapped Google with a €4.34 billion fine in July 2018. That original amount was trimmed slightly in earlier proceedings, but the core finding remained intact: Google abused its dominant position in mobile operating systems to tilt the playing field in favor of its own services.

What Google actually did

The crux of the case centers on something most Android users have taken for granted: the apps that come pre-loaded on their phones. The European Commission found that Google required device manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser on Android devices as a condition for accessing the Google Play Store.

Beyond the pre-installation requirements, Google also imposed restrictions on manufacturers that limited their ability to sell devices running alternative versions of Android. These so-called “anti-fragmentation” agreements effectively prevented competitors from gaining any foothold in the mobile ecosystem, even on a forked version of the operating system Google technically offers as open-source software.

The CJEU’s ruling confirmed the European Commission’s position that these bundled practices distorted competition in the digital market.

The long road to resolution

The fine was initially set at €4.34 billion, a record at the time. Earlier court proceedings adjusted that figure downward to €4.1 billion, but the substantive findings against Google remained largely unchanged throughout. The CJEU, as the EU’s highest court, has now delivered a definitive verdict with no further avenue for appeal.

Google and Alphabet had argued throughout the proceedings that Android’s openness actually benefited consumers and competition. The company has long maintained that manufacturers are free to build devices without Google’s apps if they choose, and that users can easily download alternative browsers and search engines from the Play Store.

This Android case was one of three major EU antitrust actions against Google. The company has also faced separate proceedings related to its shopping comparison service and its advertising technology practices.

What this means for investors

The CJEU’s decision reinforces that the EU is willing to pursue massive penalties against dominant tech platforms and, critically, that those penalties can survive nearly a decade of legal challenges.

The ruling also arrives at a time when European regulators have significantly expanded their toolkit. The Digital Markets Act gives the Commission new powers to designate large platforms as “gatekeepers” and impose specific behavioral obligations on them, with fines of up to 10% of global turnover for violations.