Upheld Google had Abused its Dominant Position - Brandsmiths

1. UPHELD - GOOGLE HAD ABUSED ITS DOMINANT POSITION General Court upholds the commission's decision. The UK and EU competition regimes both prohibit the abuse by an undertaking of a dominant position (Article 102 TFEU and Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998). The legislation gives illustrative examples of activities which are likely to constitute an abuse including “making the conclusion of contracts subject to acceptance….of supplementary obligations which….have no connection to the subject of such contracts”. This is the so-called “tying” or “bundling” abuse. A typical example is where a dominant firm is only prepared to supply a particular product on condition that the customer also agrees to purchase another (unrelated) product-the tied product. In April 2015, the Commission opened proceedings concerning Google’s conduct as regards Android operating devices. One of the main complaints directed at Google was the tying of Google’s search and browser apps. Google’s mobile apps and services were offered to Android manufacturers as a bundle which made it impossible for manufacturers to install some apps but not others. As a result, manufacturers wishing to install Google’s Play Store on their devices (which was viewed as a “must-have” app), were also be compelled to pre-install the Google Search app and Chrome browser. On 18 July 2018, the Commission held that Google had abused its dominant position in breach of EU antitrust rules and imposed a fine of €4.34 billion. Google appealed to the General Court, which handed down its decision on Wednesday 14 September 2022. The General Court largely upheld the Commission’s decision save for a small reduction in the level of fine to €4.125 billion to reflect its own assessment of the circumstances relating to the penalty. Please visit: https://brandsmiths.co.uk/blog/view/general-court-upholds-commissions- decision-that-google-had-abused-its-dominant-position