A legal opinion strengthens Brussels' stance against Google

As antitrust proceedings pile up around Alphabet, an Advocate General at the European Court of Justice has recommended that the European Commission's decision be upheld and Google's appeal be rejected. If this opinion is followed, the US giant will have to pay a record fine of €4.1bn.

Alphabet faces a potential legal setback in its standoff with European regulators. On Thursday, an advisor to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) sided with the European Commission in recommending that the tech giant's appeal against a record antitrust fine be rejected.

In 2018, Brussels fined Google €4.34bn for abusing the dominant position of its Android mobile operating system to squeeze out competitors. That decision was partially upheld in 2022 by a lower court, which nevertheless reduced the amount to €4.1bn. Google then decided to take the case to the highest European court.

In her opinion delivered on Thursday, Advocate General Juliane Kokott ruled that Google's legal arguments were "ineffective" and recommended that the judges uphold the reduced penalty.

"It is not realistic, in this case, to compare Google's situation to that of a hypothetical competitor that is just as efficient," she said, rejecting the company's defense, which had argued for such a comparison in assessing its behavior. "Google held a dominant position in several markets within the Android ecosystem and benefited from network effects that ensured that users used Google Search," she added.

Although not binding, the opinions of the advocates general are followed in about four out of five cases. The judges' final decision is expected in the coming months.

Google expressed its disappointment. "Android has delivered more choice to everyone and supports thousands of businesses in Europe and around the world," a spokesperson said. "This opinion, if followed by the Court, would discourage investment in open platforms and harm Android users, its partners, and app developers."

The Commission ruled that Google's practices dating back to 2011 were illegal. It accused Google of forcing phone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser alongside the Play Store, and of paying financial incentives to prevent alternatives from being offered. Google also allegedly prohibited manufacturers from using alternative versions of Android.

According to Statcounter data, Android currently powers around 73% of smartphones worldwide.

With this case, Google will have been fined a total of €8.25bn in three major European antitrust investigations, while other investigations are still ongoing.