Europe's top court has ordered Google to fork out a whopping €4.1 billion for using its Android mobile operating system to block rivals.

The decision comes after the European Commission initially slapped the company with a €4.3 billion fine in 2018, which was later reduced to €4.1 billion. An appeal by Google has been dismissed.

A spokesperson for the tech giant said: "The judgement fails to recognise our significant investment in ensuring Android remains open and free." They added that they had adapted their agreements to comply with the initial decision back in 2018, focusing on continued innovation and openness.

When the fine was first announced in 2018, it was alleged Google required manufacturers to pre-install its Search app and Chrome browser as a condition for access to its Play store. The company also made payments to large manufacturers and mobile network operators exclusively pre-installing the Google Search app on their devices.

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai defended the decision, stating that it rejected the business model supporting Android which had created more choice, not less.