Google’s Billion-Dollar Headache Isn’t Going Anywhere

Following nearly half a decade of deliberations, the European General Court largely dismissed the action brought by Google. In its submission to the court, the tech giant claimed that it did not consider itself a dominant player in the smartphone market because of stiff competition from Apple — a company that is embroiled in its own issues against the EU in connection with the standardization of charging ports. Google also claimed that its actions prevented further fragmentation of the Android platform. The court, however, did not find merit in most of Google’s claims.

The fresh ruling, however, did result in a lower fine for Google, which was reduced from the equivalent of $4.34 billion to $4.13 billion in 2022. The reduction in the fine amount was largely because the court did not concur with the European Commission’s findings about Google’s revenue-sharing terms with device manufacturers. Given that the latest ruling comes from the second highest court in Europe, there is a good chance that Google will appeal against this decision, too. However, the company will need to wait for a little over two months to file this anticipated appeal. 

Nevertheless, there is no denying that the latest court ruling against Google is a major setback for the company. Notably, even with the slight reduction in the fine amount, the revised amount is still the largest fine amount imposed on any company by the European Commission.