Google loses appeal against EU antitrust ruling

(LUXEMBOURG) - Google lost its appeal in the EU's General Court Wednesday, which upheld a 2018 EU decision that Google imposed illegal restrictions on companies that make Android phones and those providing mobile service.

The Court's ruling makes clear that Google cannot abuse its strong market position to unfairly exclude competitors through a complex and illegal web of restrictions and requirements for phone manufacturers.

The European Commission had ruled in 2018 that abuses by Google started in 2011.

The Commission said that Google acted illegally by imposing rules on makers of Android devices and mobile network operators, forcing them to funnel traffic to the Google search engine. The Commission said Google had denied competitors a chance to innovate or compete on the merits.

This is of particular importance because Google gets most of its revenues from advertisements associated with its search engine. At the time of the decision in 2018, four out of five smart mobile devices in Europe ran on Android.

"This shows the European Commission got it right," said Thomas Vinje, spokesman and counsel for FairSearch, the original complainant in the case. "Google can no longer impose its will on phone makers. Now they may open their devices to competition in search and other services, allowing consumers to benefit from increased choice"

The Commission decision, now largely confirmed by the General Court, said that Google illegally leveraged its market power by forcing bundles of Google apps on phone makers and telco companies, by conditioning payments on exclusive pre-installation of Google search, and by obstructing development and distribution of competing Android operating systems – so-called "forks" – that build on the open source version.

Google and Alphabet v Commission (Google Android) - Case T-604/18 - Full text of the judgment