European Union: ECJ largely confirms Commission's decision on EUR 4.34 billion fine for Google

On 14 September 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) largely confirmed the EU Commission's (EC) decision to fine Google EUR 4.34 billion for violations of EU antitrust rules. The EC had charged Google with abuse of market dominance in the search engine market by restricting Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators. Specifically, Google was found to have tied its search app as well as Google Chrome to the Google Play Store, by restricting access to the Google Play Store to device-makers that pre-installed the aforementioned apps. Furthermore, Google made revenue share payments to device manufacturers conditional on the exclusive pre-installation of Google Search and finally, restricted smartphone and tablet manufacturers from selling devices containing different Android versions (in light of Android being an open-source mobile operating system with an open-source license). The General Court agreed with the Commission regarding most of its findings, except for the finding that the portfolio-based revenue share agreements which Google entered into with mobile device manufacturers were abusive. The EC's reasoning on the matter was found to be flawed, with procedural errors incurred as well. As a result, the General Court lowered the fine slightly down to EUR 4.125 billion.