Overview
- The Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed Google and Alphabet’s final appeal on Thursday, making the roughly €4.1 billion penalty from the 2018 Android case final and enforceable across the EU.
- The European Commission found that Google tied pre‑installation of Google Search and the Chrome browser to access to the Play Store and blocked device makers from shipping competing, forked versions of Android, practices the courts agreed had foreclosed rivals.
- Google said the decision ignored its investments in keeping Android open and noted it had already changed licensing terms in 2018 to introduce a search choice screen and to unbundle apps from Play Store access.
- The ruling cements the behavioral remedies already in place in Europe, clears the way for potential follow‑on private damages claims, and strengthens regulators’ hand under existing competition law when assessing tying in digital markets.
- The case is one of several major EU actions against Google that together approach roughly €11 billion in fines and it complements new powers in the Digital Markets Act that could lead to further probes and penalties for platform conduct.