EU court upholds €4.1bn antitrust fine on Google

A European Union court has dismissed Google's final appeal against a record antitrust fine, ending a nearly decade-long legal battle. The Court of Justice of the European Union, the bloc's highest court, ruled on Thursday, July 2, 2026, to uphold a penalty of 4.1 billion euros against the tech giant for abusing the dominance of its Android mobile operating system to stifle competition.

The case originated in 2018 when the European Commission, the EU's executive and antitrust authority, imposed a fine of 4.34 billion euros. Regulators found that Google had illegally used Android to cement the dominance of its search engine. The company required phone manufacturers to pre-install the Google Search app and the Chrome browser as a condition for licensing the Google Play Store. It also made payments to manufacturers and mobile network operators to exclusively pre-install the Google Search app.

A lower court, the General Court, largely upheld the Commission's findings in 2022 but reduced the fine to 4.1 billion euros. Google then appealed to the Court of Justice, arguing the case was unfounded and penalized innovation. The company also contended that the EU was unfairly targeting its...