Google, close to a new defeat in front of the EU. Europe “is judged” with the giant for a decade

Google receives a new blow in his legal fight with the European Union: a counselor of the European Court of Justice recommended to reject the appeal filed by an antitrust fine of 4.1 billion euros.

Google, closer to a new defeat in front of the EU

According to him, the Court of Justice should maintain the previous decision of the court, and the comparison made by Google with a rival in support of its position was considered inefficient.

A top Court of Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) said that Google appeal in a long-term antitrust process is unfounded, bringing the technological giant with a step closer to the payment of 4.1 billion euros, says XTB Radu Puiu analyst, specifying that, although the opinion is not required.

The European Commission imposed a record fine in 2018, accusing Google of abusing its dominant position by forcing smartphone and tablets manufacturers to pre-install its search engine and web browser, even if they wanted to use the Android operating system. Given that Android runs over 75% of mobile devices around the world, the Commission claimed that this practice limits competition.

In 2022, the EU Court has largely confirmed the imposed fine, but Google appealed to the CJUE. The company claimed that the institution ignored the competitive pressure exerted by Apple, which offers its own operating system and services.

Lawyer General Juliane Kokott rejected this argument, stating that Google's legal motivation was “inefficient.” The arguments were that, in this case, it is not realistic to compare the Google situation with that of an equally effective hypothetical competitor. Google held a dominant position on several Android ecosystem markets and benefited from the network effects that allowed it to ensure that users used Google Search.

Sanction, part of a broader movement

The 4.1 billion euro fine is part of a larger campaign to combat the European Commission, which has sanctioned Google with a total of 8.25 billion euros for alleged dominant position abuses. However, not all these taxes were maintained: a fine of 1.5 billion euros for anti -competitive practices in the field of online advertising was canceled in September last year.

In reply, a Google spokesman said the giant is “Disappointed by the recommendation that, if followed by the yard, would discourage investments in open platforms and harm Android users, partners and app developers ”.

Android also claims that it is free, flexible and good for competition, but the EU has never been fully convinced of this. Thus, after the EU Court's counselor rejected the final appeal of the company, the largest antitrust fine in the history of Europe seems to become a permanent part of the legal strategy. At the center of this case there is more than pre-installed applications or default search engines-it is how a company that describes its activity as open and is modeled by billions of users, has managed to install and make their software accessible.

Europe “is judged“With Google for a decade. The EU has fined the company for buying advertisements for Android in Adsense, with a total amount of over 8 billion euros, and this before taking into account the application of the future digital markets, which could completely reshape Google.

However, unlike the US, where legal struggles are often prolonged due to technical aspects, Brussels addresses these cases differently. It is not just about the damage to consumers, but a structural monopoly.

Therefore, they chose not to treat platforms as simple services and to start thinking as a whole infrastructure. For this reason, the fine is important and that is why it is maintained – Europe does not punish only this abuse, but rewrite the rules. Judges against Google naturally raise concerns about the future of the company. The search engine has brought $ 50 However, the company intends to appeal against verdicts, so antitrust processes could take years in court.

Therefore, the defeat of Alphabet in these cases does not mean a serious situation for Google, at least at this time. A probably greater challenge is, however, the ascension of artificial intelligence (AI).

According to the Gartner research company, the use of the search engine will decrease by 25% in 2026, because people will prefer the tools to find out. Google is trying at an alert pace to remain relevant to consumers by creating their own capabilities. The company has introduced results generated by AI in search and so far records remarkable performances.