Google LLC v Commission

Google LLC v Commission (2022) T-604/18 is an EU competition law case, concerning monopoly and abuse of a dominant position for tying.

Facts
The EU Commission found that Google and its parent company Alphabet had committed an abuse of a dominant under TFEU article 102 in relation to its operating system on mobile phones, Google Android. This included tying Google’s search and browsers apps’, by requiring any manufacturer who wanted to pre-install any app to install all apps in the bundle. According to the Commission: ‘Pre-installation can create a status quo bias’. The Commission rejected that Google had an objective justification, namely to monetise its investment in Android.

The Commission imposed a €4.34bn fine on Google.

General Court
The General Court upheld the Commission's fine overall, but disagreed with certain calculations, and reduced it to €4.125 billion.