Google looks likely to lose appeal against record $4.7 billion EU fine

Google suffered a setback Thursday after an advisor to the European Union Court recommended that he reject the call of the technology giant against a record fined 4.1 billion euros ($ 4.7 billion).

Juliane Kokott, lawyer general of the European Court of Justice, advised the court to throw the call from Google and confirm the fine, which was Reduced in 2022 to 4.125 billion euros, compared to 4.34 billion euros before by the general court of the EU.

“In his opinion, given today, the lawyer General Kokott proposes that the Court of Justice rejects the Google appeal and, consequently, confirms the judgment of the general court,” the CJCE based in Luxembourg said in a press release on Thursday.

The fine concerns a long -term antitrust case surrounding Google’s Android operating system.

In 2018, the European Commission slapped Google with the record penalty on the grounds that it abused the mobile domination of Android to give an unfair advantage to its own applications via pre-installing agreements with smartphones manufacturers. The commission is the executive body of the EU.

Google said he was “disappointed” from the Verdict of the CJCE defender, adding “would discourage investment in open platforms and harm the Android users, partners and application developers”.

“Android has created more choices for everyone and supports thousands of prosperous companies in Europe and worldwide,” said a company spokesperson at CNBC by e-mail.

Although the lawyer’s proposal is non -binding, judges tend to follow four non -binding opinions of this type. The CJCE is expected to make a final decision in the coming months.