EU Court upholds Google Android abuse-of-dominance fine

The Court of Justice of the European Union (Second Chamber) has dismissed the appeal brought by Google LLC and Alphabet Inc. against the judgment of the General Court in the Android case, upholding the European Commission’s finding of an abuse of a dominant position and the fine imposed. The ruling, delivered on 2 July 2026, is published in the Official Journal of the European Union, C series, of 31 August 2026 under reference C/2026/4467 (Case C-738/22 P).

The appeal concerned the markets for online general search services, for the licensing of smart mobile operating systems, and for online app stores for the Android mobile operating system. The Court confirmed the infringement of Article 102 TFEU and Article 54 of the EEA Agreement, rejecting the appellants’ challenges to the Commission’s decision.

The contested conduct

The Commission’s original decision found that Google had abused its dominant position through a series of contractual restrictions and practices in the Android ecosystem. The Court’s judgment addresses several of these practices, which the operative part of the ruling confirms as part of a single and continuous infringement:

• Tying of the Google search and browser applications to the Android operating system.
• Payments subject to exclusive pre-installation of Google’s search services on devices.
• Obstruction of the development and distribution of Android forks, i.e. alternative versions of the operating system.

The Court also examined the exclusionary effects of these practices, the relevance of context, the counterfactual scenario and the position of the as-efficient competitor in assessing the conduct.

The judgment

In the operative part of the judgment, the Court dismissed the appeal in its entirety. It ordered Google LLC and Alphabet Inc. to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission.

The other parties to the proceedings — including the Application Developers Alliance, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, Gigaset Communications GmbH, HMD global Oy, Opera Norway AS, BDZV – Bundesverband Digitalpublisher und Zeitungsverleger eV, the Bureau européen des unions de consommateurs (BEUC), FairSearch AISBL, Seznam.cz, a.s. and the Verband Deutscher Zeitschriftenverleger eV — were ordered to bear their own costs.

The case was heard in English, and the appeal was lodged following the publication of the General Court’s judgment. The reference to the earlier stage of the proceedings is given as OJ C 83, 6.3.2023.

Impact

The ruling is a landmark for the enforcement of EU competition law against digital platforms, confirming that the Commission’s approach to exclusionary conduct in the Android ecosystem withstands judicial scrutiny at the highest level. By upholding the abuse-of-dominance finding and the fine, the Court reinforces the legal framework governing how dominant operators may structure their licensing and pre-installation agreements, with direct consequences for Google’s business model and for the wider digital-platform competition landscape in the European Union.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, C series, C/2026/4467, 31 August 2026, p. 1 (official reference: C/2026/4467, Case C-738/22 P).