The European Court of Justice (CJEU) is delivering its ruling today on Google's appeal against a record €4.1 billion ($4.7 billion) antitrust fine — the largest ever imposed by the European Commission.
The case stems from a 2018 Commission decision finding that Google abused the dominance of its Android operating system to restrict competition. The EU alleged that Google forced phone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser as a condition for licensing the Play Store, effectively shutting out rivals.
The fine was originally set at €4.34 billion in 2018, then reduced slightly to €4.1 billion by the General Court — the EU's second-highest court — in 2022. Google then brought a final appeal before the CJEU, arguing the case was unfounded and that the penalty penalized innovation.
In a legal blow to Google last June, the CJEU's Advocate General recommended upholding the fine, describing Google's arguments as "ineffective." While not binding, such opinions are often followed by the Court.
This case is one of three major antitrust battles between Google and Brussels. Between 2017 and 2019, the EU fined Google a total of €8.2 billion across three cases covering shopping comparisons, Android, and advertising technology. In September 2025, Google was hit with another €2.95 billion fine for favoring its own ad services.
The EU has since armed itself with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a more proactive tool that gives regulators a pre-defined list of dos and don'ts for tech giants rather than requiring lengthy antitrust probes. Google is already subject to several formal DMA investigations.
Today's ruling is final and cannot be appealed further. It will set a precedent for how aggressively the EU can police Big Tech's platform dominance through its traditional antitrust powers.
