Google should lose bid to overturn €4.1B EU Android fine, says court adviser

Google should lose its bid to overturn the European Union’s record €4.1 billion antitrust fine for its Android mobile operating system, an adviser to the EU's top court said Thursday.

Google's practice of imposing restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators was part of an overall strategy to preserve its dominant position in search, said the Court of Justice of the European Union's Advocate General Juliane Kokott in the opinion.

"Very few undertakings achieve such renown that their name gives rise to a verb. This alone attests to the importance that Google has acquired in everyday life," Kokott wrote in her opinion.

Kokott's opinion reinforces the Commission's view that Google's conduct — including pre-installing its search app and Chrome browser, and preventing manufacturers from selling devices running modified versions of Android — constitutes a form of market abuse.

While her recommendations aren't binding on the top court, judges frequently follow advice from advocates general. A final ruling could come later this year.

The search giant originally received a €4.34 billion fine in 2018, the largest in a string of investigations into its businesses. This number was reduced to €4.125 billion by the General Court in 2022. Kokott said that the lower court was correct to reduce the fine by €200 million.

The lower court backed the Commission’s probe, but trimmed the fine over what it saw as the EU executive's deficiencies in measuring the impact of the conduct. Google has argued that the court went too far, rewriting the regulator’s own findings about the company's relationship with device-makers and app developers.

"Android has created more choice for everyone and supports thousands of successful businesses in Europe and around the world. We are disappointed with the opinion which, if it were followed by the Court, would discourage investment in open platforms and harm Android users, partners and app developers,” said Google spokesperson  Mathilde Méchin.

The case is C-614/19 P Google and Alphabet vs. Commission (Android).