The European Court of Justice (the EU's highest court) has rejected Google's final appeal against a €4.1 billion antitrust fine, meaning the tech giant must now pay the penalty in full. The fine was originally imposed in 2018 after regulators determined that, from 2011, Google had illegally required manufacturers using the Android operating system to pre-install apps such as Google Search and Chrome, cementing its dominance in mobile internet search. The ruling matters because it marks the definitive close of one of the largest antitrust cases in EU history, and follows a separate 2024 ruling that also upheld a €2.42 billion fine against Google over search-related competition abuses.