Google CEO Sundar Pichai says company will appeal record fine from EU ruling
Google isn't going down without a fight.
The search giant just received a record $5 billion fine from the European Union over monopolizing the search engine on Android phones, which the commission said illegally "cemente[ed] its dominant position" for search engines.
Although there isn't a clear answer for whether Google is a monopoly, today's ruling plainly shows that Google is at least a monopoly in searches.
But Google CEO Sundar Pichai released a blog post that argued against the decision and said that the company would appeal the EU's determination.
"The free distribution of the Android platform, and of Google’s suite of applications, is not only efficient for phone makers and operators—it’s of huge benefit for developers and consumers," Pichai wrote.
"If phone makers and mobile network operators couldn’t include our apps on their wide range of devices, it would upset the balance of the Android ecosystem. So far, the Android business model has meant that we haven't had to charge phone makers for our technology, or depend on a tightly controlled distribution model."
His post, however, seems to reinforce the EU's decision today — Pichai dedicates a whole section of his post to reminding people how Google created the platform in the first place and how its many apps are preloaded onto phones simply because doing so makes people's lives easier.
"A healthy, thriving Android ecosystem is in everyone’s interest, and we’ve shown we’re willing to make changes," Pichai wrote. "But we are concerned that today’s decision will upset the careful balance that we have struck with Android, and that it sends a troubling signal in favor of proprietary systems over open platforms."
Pichai is clearly indignant over being called out, but let's be real. The $5 billion fine is merely a slap on the wrist for a giant with a parent company that holds $102.9 billion in cash.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Google was worth $464 billion last year. The claim has since been removed.
