Background of the Dispute
The dispute dates back to a 2018 decision by the European Commission, which accused Google of leveraging its dominance in the mobile operating system market to stifle competition. Specifically, regulators charged that Google had imposed unlawful restrictions on Android device manufacturers, requiring them to pre-install Google Search and Chrome browsers alongside the Google Play Store as a condition of using Android. Additionally, the Commission said Google paid manufacturers to exclusively install Google Search and barred them from using alternative versions of Android.
The Commission initially imposed a record-breaking fine of €4.34 billion (about $4.98 billion), asserting that Google’s conduct had undermined consumer choice and disadvantaged rival app developers and search providers. A lower EU court largely upheld the ruling in 2022 but slightly reduced the fine to €4.1 billion.
Latest Legal Opinion
On Thursday, Juliane Kokott, Advocate-General at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), advised the court to dismiss Google’s appeal and maintain the lower court’s judgment. Though not binding, such opinions carry considerable weight—judges follow them in roughly 80% of cases.
Kokott rejected Google’s argument that its conduct should be assessed by comparing it to a hypothetical “as-efficient competitor.” She noted that Google’s entrenched dominance in various layers of the Android ecosystem gave it significant advantages, including network effects that entrenched the use of Google Search.
“The legal arguments put forward by Google are ineffective,” Kokott concluded, adding that the company’s structural advantages made competitive comparisons unrealistic in this context.
Google’s Response
In response to the opinion, Google reiterated its long-standing position that Android has expanded consumer choice rather than limited it.
“Android has created more choice for everyone and supports thousands of successful businesses in Europe and around the world,” said a company spokesperson. “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.”
A Wider Pattern of Scrutiny
The Android case is the largest among several antitrust actions the EU has taken against Google in recent years. Cumulatively, the company has been fined €8.25 billion across three separate investigations stretching over a decade. Additional inquiries into Google's business practices remain underway, as European regulators continue to push back against what they view as market abuses by dominant digital platforms.
The final decision from the CJEU is expected in the coming months and will carry significant implications for how the EU applies its competition laws in the digital economy—and for how dominant firms structure their business relationships within open-source ecosystems like Android.