It seems like Google won’t be able to escape a $4.7 billion fine in the EU. Advocate General at the European Court of Justice advised the court to ditch Google’s appeal and confirm the fine.

Needless to say, this is quite a setback for Google, as this move will likely cause the court to proceed with the fine. Do note that this is not the original fine, however. The original fine was reduced in 2022 from €4.34 billion to €4.125 billion.

Google will likely have to pay a massive Android antitrust fine in the EU

The Advocate General in question is Juliane Kokott, and she proposed “that the Court of Justice dismiss Google’s appeal and, therefore, uphold the judgment of the General Court.”

As you may have noticed, this case has been going on for a while. It dates all the way back to 2018, even though it was amended in 2022, as already mentioned. It’s in relation to Google’s Android operating system, an antitrust case.

In 2018, Google was slapped with a €4.34 billion fine, accusing the company of abusing Android’s mobile dominance to give its own apps unfair advantage. According to the court, Google did that via pre-installation deals with smartphone makers.

Google says that it’s “disappointed”

Google did address the Advocate General’s opinion, by saying it’s “disappointed”. The company said that this move would “discourage investment in open platforms and harm Android users, partners and app developers.”

Google’s spokesperson also added the following: “Android has created more choice for everyone and supports thousands of successful businesses in Europe and around the world.”

Needless to say, this is not official just yet. This is just the Advocate General’s recommendation. However, in the vast majority of cases, judges follow such opinions. We’ll see if this will be the exception or not.

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