Status Quo Bias and the Invisible Hand of Pre-Installation
Google had argued that the General Court (which previously upheld most of the penalty in 2022) did not perform a proper “counterfactual analysis”—an assessment of what the market might look like had Google not imposed the pre-installation requirements on Android phone makers.
But Kokott dismissed this, emphasizing the psychological grip of the “status quo bias”—users are naturally inclined to use what comes pre-installed. This silent but powerful influence, she said, unfairly tipped the scales in Google’s favor and was not something competitors could easily overcome.
Partial Win, But a Losing Strategy
Google had clawed back a minor victory in 2022 when the General Court sliced €215 million off the original €4.34 billion fine. It ruled that the Commission lacked sufficient evidence regarding one aspect of Google’s pre-installation requirements linked to ad revenue.
Nonetheless, Kokott maintained that the broader pattern of market dominance remained intact. “Despite that partial annulment, Google pursued an overall strategy to secure the future of mobile internet—while safeguarding its own advertising-driven business model,” she said.
