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Google’s hopes to overcome record-breaking EU competition fines were hit hard on Thursday as an adviser to the European topcoat agreed with Brussels regulators that the tech giant used the Android phone operating system to crush its rivals.
Julian Cocotte, a defending general for the European Court of Justice, the EU’s Supreme Court, said he should support the 4.2 billion euro fine issued against a US company.
Although it is not legally binding, most of such opinions are followed by the ECJ. A court ruling is expected in the coming months.
“Google held a dominant position in several markets in the Android ecosystem, and thus benefited from the network effect by enabling users to use Google search,” Kokott said. “As a result, Google was able to gain access to data and turn to improve its services.”
This victory will boost the European Commission. The European Commission is trying to implement strict new rules aimed at explaining the world’s largest high-tech companies.
The Android case dates back to 2018, with the EU accusing Google of impose illegal restrictions on “locking dominant positions” on Android device makers and mobile network operators.
Google said it was “disappointing” by the opinion. “Android creates more options for everyone and supports thousands of successful businesses across Europe and around the world,” he added.
The European Commission declined to comment.
The first fine issued by the European Commission was 43.4 billion euros. When Google challenged the penalty, the General Court in 2022 largely ruled in favor of the Brussels decision, but reduced it to just 4.2 billion euros.
Kokott advised the ECJ on Thursday to dismiss Google’s appeal, saying “the legal arguments proposed by Google are ineffective.”
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The fine was part of a trio of the trio against alphabet-owned Google. This has resulted in regulators being fined totaling 8 billion euros over the past decade.
The EU’s Supreme Court has already upheld the bloc’s decision to fine 2.422 billion euros in favor of its own comparative shopping service ahead of its rivals.
However, last year, Google won an appeal against a fine of 1.5 billion euros from 2019 to block competitors in the online advertising market that the General Court has overridden.
Separately, the EU has compiled a survey of Google’s online advertising technology, which was released in 2023.
