Alphabet’s sub-company, Google, on Wednesday was fined $4.13 billion over its unlawful dominance in search engines.
According to Reuters, the famous search engine browser in the case T-604/18 Google vs European Commission, lost to the European Union.
European Union had accused Google of imposing unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Andriod mobile devices and mobile network operators to maintain its dominance among search engine applications.
The judgement further upholds EU antitrust regulators’ claim that Google had abused its dominance, however, the fine placed on them was trimmed by 5% due to a disagreement on one point.
Dispensing its ruling, the court said, “The General Court largely confirms the Commission’s decision that Google imposed unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices and mobile network operators in order to consolidate the dominant position of its search engine.
“In order better to reflect the gravity and duration of the infringement, the General Court considers it appropriate however to impose a fine of 4.125 billion euros ($4.13 billion) on Google, its reasoning differing in certain respects from that of the Commission.
The Commission had accused Google of using Android to cement its dominance in general internet search via payments to large manufacturers and mobile network operators and restrictions.
Google, in a counter-response, said it acted like countless other businesses and that such payments and agreements help keep Android a free operating system, criticising the EU decision as out of step with the economic reality of mobile software platforms.
The parties can appeal on matters of law to the EU Court of Justice, Europe’s highest.