Europe's top court has delivered the final word in one of the biggest antitrust cases in tech history. The European Court of Justice on Thursday dismissed Google's last appeal against a €4.1 billion ($4.67 billion) fine — ending a legal fight that began in 2018 when the European Commission ruled Google had illegally used Android's dominance to crush competition.

The original case centered on Google's deals with smartphone manufacturers. The Commission found that Google forced phone makers to pre-install its Search and Chrome apps as a condition for licensing the Google Play Store, effectively locking out rival services before users ever touched their devices. The ECJ agreed.

Google had already won one partial concession — in 2022, the EU's General Court trimmed the fine from €4.34 billion to €4.1 billion — but the company kept appealing, arguing that Android gave users more choice, not less.

That argument is now exhausted. The ECJ's ruling is final, with no further avenue for appeal. Google said it adapted its agreements to comply back in 2018 and will "remain focused on continued innovation and openness."

For Europe's regulators, the ruling is a vindication after years of legal wrangling. For Big Tech, it is a reminder that the EU's competition hammer has not gone soft — and that dominance, once established, will be watched.

Sources: CNBC