Google must pay record €4.1bn fine over antitrust issues

Google will have to pay a record €4.1bn (£3.5bn) fine after it lost its fight against EU antitrust regulators. 

Eight years ago, the search engine giant was handed a €4.3bn fine by the regulator for using Android to block rivals - that fine was subsequently reduced to €4.1bn on appeal.

However, when Google took the case to Europe's highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the court sided with regulators.

"The appeal brought by Google and its ​parent company Alphabet against the judgment of the General Court is dismissed, ​thereby confirming the penalty imposed for Google Search's abuse of a dominant position in the ‌context of ⁠the Android operating system," said the judges.

A Google spokesperson said the judgment failed to take into account its investment to ensure Android remains open, interoperable and free.

"In any event, we adapted our agreements to comply with the initial ​decision back in 2018 ​and we remain ⁠focused on continued innovation and openness for our users, partners and developers", Google said.

The fine was originally imposed over allegations the company had forced Android manufacturers to pre-install the Google Search app and Chrome as a condition of allowing them to offer access to its Play app store.

Google was also accused of paying manufacturers who agreed to exclusively pre-install Google Search on devices and threatening manufacturers who used different versions of Android but wanted to pre-install Google apps.

The record fine is just part of the eye-watering £11bn sum racked up by Google in EU fines over the last decades; in the last two years alone, it has been fined another €5.35bn by the EU for antitrust breaches.

The latest news is likely to antagonise US President Donald Trump, who has accused the EU of unfairly targeting American companies. Last week, he threatened "100% tariffs" on any EU country that imposed digital service taxes on US companies.

On Christmas Eve, the White House imposed visa bans on five public figures in Europe for allegedly targeting US companies operating in the region.

(c) Sky News 2026: Google must pay record €4.1bn fine over antitrust issues