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Google Android: The End of the Road? Unpacking the ECJ Judgment
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Authors: Gerwin Van Gerven, Will Leslie, Rachel Malloch, Thomas Reyntjens, Anna Kennedy
The European Court of Justice has today delivered its judgment in Google Android, upholding the General Court ruling which largely confirmed the European Commission’s landmark 2018 abuse of dominance decision.
In 2018, the Commission found that Google had imposed unlawful preinstallation and licensing restrictions on Android OEMs and MNOs, reinforcing its dominance in general search. The Commission found abusive restrictions across three types of agreements between Google and OEMs/MNOs which, together, constituted a single and continuous infringement:
On appeal, the General Court largely upheld the Commission's decision, annulling only the RSAs abuse – finding the Commission had failed adequately to assess market coverage and had erred in its AEC analysis – while upholding the single and continuous infringement finding. Google appealed to the Court of Justice. In June 2025, Advocate General Kokott recommended dismissal in its entirety.
In dismissing Google’s appeal, the ECJ adopted much of the reasoning of Advocate General Kokott. The judgment clarifies several fundamental points of law which are central to the assessment of exclusionary abuses.
There is a huge amount to digest in today’s judgment. Authorities, practitioners and academics alike will be grappling with its implications in the coming weeks and months. Some key questions to resolve will include:
What is clear is that the judgment brings to a close more than a decade of EU scrutiny of Google’s contractual restrictions on Android MNOs and OEMs. It also clears the way for the Commission’s revised exclusionary guidelines expected in Q3, and may be viewed as a tentative endorsement of the Commission’s attempt to row back on its “more economic approach”. That said, there are signs that the Commission has taken on board some of the criticisms of its earlier draft guidelines. It has indicated it will revisit its proposed removal of the 40% market share "soft safe harbour" for dominance, and recent comments from Anthony Whelan, Director-General for Competition suggest that concerns about excessive reliance on presumptions will also be addressed.
2 July 2026