Google Loses Final EU Antitrust Appeal
Ryan Whitwam (PDF, Reddit):
Back in 2018, Google was handed a record-setting 4.34 billion-euro ($4.9 billion) fine in Europe for abusing its monopoly on Android. The company has spent the intervening years challenging that decision, but the continent’s highest court has put a stop to that. The Court of Justice of the European Union has affirmed the penalty, meaning Google is out of options.
[…]
The EU took issue with Google search and Chrome being the default options on Android. Even devices made by other companies, such as Samsung and Xiaomi, include Google apps as the default per the Android licensing agreement, giving Google an unfair advantage, according to European antitrust regulators. This is not to be confused with a 2.95 billion euro ($3.45 billion) fine against Google’s advertising monopoly issued by the European Union last year.
In 2022, a lower EU court reduced the fine to the current 4.1 billion euros from 4.34 billion euros previously.
Google has argued that the Android operating system provides choice for users and supports developers and businesses across Europe.
Via John Gruber:
Google last year booked $132 billion in profit; this fine is about 3 percent of that..
[…]
There’s never a reason not to string the appeal process out, but it’s especially true when your profits are growing at an exceptional rate. By growing their profits around 5×, they’ve reduced the relative sting of this fine by 5×
Previously:
- EU Antitrust Fines for Google Search and Play Store
- Android AI Violates DMA
- Google Search and Ads Monopoly
- The European Commission Versus Android
7 Comments RSS · Twitter · Mastodon
@DJ Why should they pull out the the EU? Because the EU is enforcing antitrust? Thats *good* for society and companies
If the Carter administration hadn’t fought to break up AT&T’s monopoly, the iPhone wouldn’t have been allowed to exist because we’d still all be renting our phones from AT&T
The same will be true of whatever innovations happen due to the EU’s antitrust enforcement
Right now, America is ceding the future of tech by allowing corporate strangleholds to get worse
As somebody living in Europe, I agree with DJ. I wish Google and Apple would show Europe that relying on them is an absolutely terrible idea.
I would love to see them leave. They're both far down the path of enshittification and I'm really curious to see what would replace them.
But I hear that Apple and Google are too scared of opening the door to a competitor in the west for this to happen.
Yeah, European dependence on Apple and Google has become a genuine problem. The latest example is the European digital ID wallets. By themselves, they're a good idea and generally well-designed with a strong focus on privacy and security. But they fricken require Google Play Integrity or Apple’s Managed Device Attestation. So not only are you required to use either an Apple or an Android phone, your Android phone must be blessed by Google.
And good luck if Google or Apple decide to block your account.
https://www.ftm.nl/artikelen/nl-wallet-werkt-niet-zonder-amerikaanse-tech
These two companies have become a cancer on technology. The literal best thing that could happen to Europe would be for them to pull out. Leave us the hell alone with your shit.
These fines are rounding errors for these companies versus the amount of money they make violating laws and mores.
