‘Google abused its…’: EU court upholds $4 billion fine against tech giant

Search engine giant Google has suffered another setback after Europe's top court agreed with European Union's ant-trust regulators' charges that it abused its dominance. However, the General Court trimmed the fine by five per cent due to a disagreement on one point, Reuters reported.

The court said Google imposed unlawful restrictions on Android mobile manufacturers and network operators to consolidate the dominant position of its search engine. The court said it considered appropriate to impose a fine of 4.12 billion Euros on the tech giant.

The ruling is being seen as a big win for EU's anti-trust chief Margrethe Vestager following setbacks in cases involving Intel and Qualcomm this year. Vestager has carried out a cracked down on big tech firms, imposing hefty fines to ensure a level playing field in the EU.

The anti-trust commission in 2018 had alleged that Google used Android to cement its dominance in internet search via payments to large manufacturers and mobile network operators.

Google said it acted like other businesses and such payments help keep Android a free operating system. It also slammed the EU decision as out of step with the economic reality of mobile software platforms. Both the parties can appeal before the EU Court of Justice.

Not just in Europe, Google has also been accused of anti-competitive strategies in the United States. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has accused the search engine giant of spending huge amount of money to tech firms to keep its hegemony in the search engine business.

On September 9, DOJ's attorney Kenneth Dintzer told the federal judge that Google pays billions of dollar each year to Apple, Samsung and other telecom giants to illegally maintain its spot as the numero uno search engine, Bloomberg reported.