SANTO DOMINGO – After more than ten years of investigations, appeals, and a legal battle that pitted one of the world's most powerful regulators against one of the most influential companies on the planet, the European Union achieved a historic victory against Google.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the highest judicial body of the European bloc, definitively confirmed the fine of 4.125 billion euros (about US$4.7 billion) imposed on Google for abuse of dominant position through Android, the mobile operating system used by billions of people worldwide, as reported by the Spanish newspaper El País.
The decision brings to a close one of the most important antitrust cases of the digital age and reinforces the view that large technology platforms cannot use their dominant position to limit competition in digital markets.
What did Google do?
According to the timeline compiled by France 24, the European investigation determined that Google forced smartphone manufacturers and mobile operators to pre-install applications such as Google Search and Google Chrome as a condition for accessing the Play Store, the main Android app store.
In addition, the company prevented or limited the marketing of devices with alternative versions of Android and entered into economic agreements that discouraged the installation of competing search engines.
According to European authorities, these practices allowed Google to consolidate its dominance of its search engine and digital ecosystem for years, reducing opportunities for competition in the market, as reported by the international media outlet France 24.
A lawsuit that began more than a decade ago
As Forbes explains in its report, the case originated in 2015 when the European Commission launched a formal investigation into Google's business practices within the Android ecosystem. In 2018, Brussels imposed a record fine of €4.343 billion, considered at the time the largest antitrust penalty ever levied by the European Union.
Although a European court later reduced the fine to 4.125 million euros, the essence of the accusations was ratified and, with the ruling issued this Thursday, the legal route was definitively exhausted, the business magazine explained.
A precedent for the future of big technology
The ruling is considered a key precedent in the international regulation of large digital platforms and strengthens the ability of states to limit practices considered abusive in highly concentrated technology markets.
According to the Spanish newspaper, Google regretted the decision and stated that Android continues to be an open and free platform, recalling that since 2018 it modified part of its commercial contracts to adapt to European regulatory requirements.
However, for the European Union, the ruling marks a milestone: confirmation that even the world's most powerful technology companies can be sanctioned when they use their dominant position to restrict competition, El País concluded.
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