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BRUSSELS — European Union regulators hit Google with a record $5 billion antitrust fine on Wednesday for using its Android mobile operating system to squeeze out rivals.
The penalty is nearly double the previous record of 2.4 billion euros which the U.S. tech company was ordered to pay last year over its online shopping search service.
Google said it would appeal the decision, which was announced by Europe’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager at a news conference in Brussels.
The European Commission also ordered Google to halt anti-competitive practices in contractual deals with smartphone makers and telecoms providers within 90 days or face additional penalties of up to 5 percent of parent Alphabet’s average daily worldwide turnover.
“Google has used Android as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine. These practices have denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits. They have denied European consumers the benefits of effective competition in the important mobile sphere,” she said in a statement.
The E.U. enforcer dismissed Google’s argument of competition from Apple, saying the iPhone maker was not a sufficient constraint because of its higher prices and switching costs for users.
Android, which runs about 80 percent of the world’s smartphones according to market research firm Strategy Analytics, is the most important case out of a trio of antitrust cases against Google.
In June 2017, regulators charged Google $2.8 billion for favoring its shopping listings in search results. Google appealed that decision, while rolling out a compromise this year that lets competitive comparison shopping engines bid for slots in an auction, a system that critics say still favors the tech giant.
A third E.U. case, which has not yet concluded, involves Google’s AdSense product. Competition authorities have said Google prevented third parties using its product from displaying search advertisements from Google’s competitors.
Vestager has also ordered a series of measures against other U.S. companies over tax practices in some EU states, notably demanding two years ago that the Irish government take back up to $15 billion from Apple Inc.
Some U.S. officials have complained that the Commission is following a protectionist course, while Vestager, a former Danish minister who is seen as a rising star in E.U. politics, insists she is merely enforcing laws to protect consumers.
“I very much like the U.S.,” Vestager said on Wednesday.
“But the fact is that this has nothing to do with how I feel. Nothing whatsoever. Just as enforcing competition law, we do it in the world, but we do not do it in political context,” she added.
Vestager added she would continue to enforce competition law, no matter the political context.