Google has been handed a European Union fine of €4.1 billion (£3.5bn) following an eight-year battle for using its Android mobile operating system to block rivals.

Back in 2018 then European Union competition chief Margrethe Vestager announced a €4.3bn fine following a 39-month investigation which found the search engine giant was breaking EU antitrust laws by forcing Android phone and tablet manufacturers to pre-install its search app and Chrome browser.It was also accused of making payments to manufacturers and mobile network operators that agreed to exclusively pre-install the search app on their devices, and of preventing manufacturers from selling smart devices powered by alternative versions of Android.Vestager said at the time that Google’s practices “denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits”.

Google appealed and the fine was reduced slightly to €4.1 bn in 2022. A further appeal has now been dismissed.Google said the judgement “fails to recognize [our] significant investment to ensure Android remains open, interoperable and free”.It added: “In any event, we adapted our agreements to comply with the initial decision back in 2018 and we remain focused on continued innovation and openness for our users, partners and developers.”Google has been fined a total of almost €11bn by the EU ​in the last decade for antitrust infringements.