The EU General Court upheld the 2018 ruling that Google used its market dominance to impose restrictions on Android smartphone makers.
However, the judges deviated from the European Commission’s position and reduced the fine from 4.34 billion euros to 4.125 billion euros, as the court announced on Wednesday.
The European Commission concluded in July 2018 that Google’s cooperation policy with mobile device manufacturers was contrary to European law. One of the claims of the EU’s highest executive authority against the company was that, in certain cases, it required manufacturers to pre-install the Google Search application and the Chrome browser.
Thus, according to the European Commission, the company, putting counterparties in a hopeless situation, on the one hand, expanded its dominant presence in the market segment, on the other hand, hindered the development of competitors.
In addition to the fine, Google was ordered to revise the terms of the agreements, which were mentioned in the decision of the European Commission. An appeal against the judgment can still be lodged with the European Court of Justice.
