The European Court of Justice’s General Court mostly confirmed a European Commission decision to slap Google with a fine of more than four billion euros for stifling competition through the dominance of Android.
The court said it was appropriate to impose a fine of €4.125bn (£3.5 billion) on Google, slightly lower than the original €4.34bn penalty. In addition, the court said its reasoning for the decision differed “in certain respects” from the Commission’s.
The fine is one of three anti-competition penalties totalling more than €8bn (£6.9bn) that the European Commission imposed on Google between 2017 and 2019.
In its original decision, the Commission said Google’s practices restrict competition and reduce choices for consumers.
It determined that Google broke EU rules by requiring smartphone makers to take a bundle of Google apps if they wanted any at all, as well as preventing them from selling devices with altered versions of Android.
The bundle of...