Google has lost its appeal against an antitrust fine imposed by the European Union (EU), resulting in the maintenance of a fine exceeding 7 trillion won.
On July 2, Yonhap News and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) reported that the ECJ dismissed an appeal filed by Google and its parent company Alphabet against a ruling by the EU General Court. The court confirmed the fine imposed for the abuse of Google's dominant position related to its Android operating system.
As a result of this ruling, Google will ultimately bear a fine of approximately 4.125 billion euros (about 7.29 trillion won).
The case dates back to 2018 when the European Commission fined Google for requiring smartphone manufacturers to pre-install its search engine and Chrome browser in exchange for access to the Google Play app store, thereby excluding competitors.
During the trial, Google argued that Android users were not forced to use its apps, but the court did not accept this defense.
In the initial ruling, the fine was reduced from 4.343 billion euros (approximately 7.67 trillion won) to 4.125 billion euros, but Google failed to overturn the fine itself.
Additionally, in September of last year, Google was fined 2.95 billion euros (about 4.8 trillion won) by the EU Commission for anti-competitive practices in its advertising technology business. In December, the EU Commission also launched an official antitrust investigation to determine whether Google violated EU competition laws in its use of online content for AI training.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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