<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Alphabet&#8217;s Google faced a potential setback on Thursday as an adviser to Europe&#8217;s highest court sided with antitrust regulators in the company&#8217;s fight against a record 4.34 billion euro ($4.98 billion) fine levied seven years ago.</p>
<p>The European Commission in its 2018 decision said Google had used its Android mobile operating system to block rivals. A lower tribunal endorsed the EU finding in 2022 but trimmed the fine to 4.1 billion euros, prompting Google to appeal to Europe&#8217;s top court.</p>
<p>Advocate-General at the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Juliane Kokott, in her non-binding opinion, advised the court to dismiss Google&#8217;s appeal and confirm the reduced fine set by the lower tribunal.</p>
<p>&#8220;The legal arguments put forward by Google are ineffective,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>Kokott dismissed Google&#8217;s argument that regulators should compare Google with a rival in assessing the situation.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is not realistic, in the present case, to compare the situation of Google with that of a hypothetical as-efficient competitor. Google held a dominant position in several markets of the Android-ecosystem and thus benefited from network effects that enabled it to ensure that users used Google Search,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>Judges, who usually follow four out of five such non-binding opinions, will rule in the coming months.</p>
<p>&#8220;Android has created more choice for everyone and supports thousands of successful businesses in Europe and around the world,&#8221; a Google spokesperson said on Thursday.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are disappointed with the Opinion which, if it were followed by the Court, would discourage investment in open platforms and harm Android users, partners and app developers.&#8221;</p>
<p>Regulators said Google&#8217;s illegal practices dated back to 2011, as it required manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and its Chrome browser together with its Google Play app store on their Android devices. It paid them to pre-install only Google Search and blocked them from using rival Android systems.</p>
<p>Google&#8217;s Android system, which it lets device makers use for free, runs about 73% of the world&#8217;s smartphones, according to Statcounter.</p>
<p>The world&#8217;s most popular internet search engine has racked up a total of 8.25 billion euros in fines linked to three investigations stretching back more than a decade, while other probes are ongoing.</p>
<p>The case is C-738/22 P Google and Alphabet v Commission.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Bernadette Baum)</p>

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Google Faces Setback In Fight Against $5 Billion Anti-Trust Fine

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Google Faces Setback In Fight Against $5 Billion Anti-Trust Fine