Google complies with EU ruling to avoid being fined $15 million a day

Woman takes selfie with
the Google Android mascot.
Reuters

• Google was fined €4.3 billion ($5 billion) in July by
  the EU over its Android monopoly.
• The EU gave Google 90 days to get its house in order,
  saying if it didn’t, it could be fined up to 5% of its daily
  revenue for each day it fails to comply with EU laws.
• That means it could have been fined as much as $15.2
  million a day, on top of the $5 billion penalty.
• Google filed an appeal against the ruling, but in the
  meantime, it will implement changes to comply with the EU’s
  decision.

Google was fined a record €4.3 billion ($5 billion/£3.8 billion)
by the EU in July, and although
it’s appealing the ruling, the tech giant has announced it’s
complying with the EU’s decision.

The European Commission antitrust watchdog, led by Margrethe
Vestager, identified three key
transgressions, which prompted the $5 billion fine:

• Requiring mobile device manufacturers to preinstall Google’s
  browser and search apps for access to the Play store.
• Paying manufacturers to exclusively preinstall Google Search.
• Preventing manufacturers from selling devices running
  alternative versions of Android.

The Commission said if these issues were not put right within 90
days, Google would be fined up to 5% of the
global daily revenue of its parent company Alphabet.

Alphabet’s total annual revenue
stood at $110.9 billion last year, which evens out at a daily
average of approximately $304 million. That means Google could
have been stung with penalties of as much as $15.2 million a day,
on top of its existing $5 billion fine.

But on Tuesday, Google
published a blog post announcing that it would be complying
with the EU’s Android demands while it is in the process of
appealing.

It said it would
no longer require European phone manufacturers who use its
Android operating system to pre-install Google apps. The
downside for manufacturers is that they will now have to pay to
pre-install apps such as Gmail or the Google Play Store.

The EU originally gave Google a deadline of October 28, and the
company said the changes will come into effect on October 29. The
move seems designed to avoid incurring further fines should
Google lose its appeal against the EU.

Google is not entirely off the hook, however. A Commission
spokeswoman told Business Insider: “It is Google’s responsibility
to comply with its obligations under the decision. The Commission
will closely monitor Google’s compliance to ensure that the
remedy is effective and respects the Decision.”

The EU was also keen to emphasise that its decision did not
stipulate that Google charge manufacturers to install its apps.
“It is for Google to decide exactly how to comply with the
Commission’s decision. The decision does not require Google to
charge for any of its apps or for the Play Store,” the
spokeswoman added.

Business Insider contacted Google for comment.

Get the latest Google stock price here.