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Consumers aren't stupid': Google lawyer rejects EU market abuse ruling

Google's lawyer argued on Friday that billions of people use the company because it's the best, not because of arrangements the company made to stay competitive, capping a week of testimony as to the US internet giant battles a record $5 billion antitrust penalties.

Google (GOOGL.O) was fined 4.34 billion euros ($5 billion) by the European Commission in 2018 for using its Android mobile operating system to impede competitors and consolidate its dominance in general internet searching since 2011. Accords mandating phone makers to pre-install the Google Search and Chrome browser apps alongside Google Play, as well as deals prohibiting specific Android versions, are at issue.

"The fact that billions of people use Google as their primary search engine every day is not due to a power grab. It's because it's the most effective "Meredith Pickford, a lawyer, testified before the EU's General Court, the bloc's second-highest court.

Pickford said that the agreements were not meant to be anti-competitive, but rather to keep Google competitive.

" You can still compete hard and compete on the merits. Consumers aren't stupid. If Bing or another search engine were better than Google, people would turn to it," he said, referring to a rival Microsoft Corp

(MSFT.O) search engine.

"Successful companies don't stay successful by resting on their laurels and failing to compete," Pickford told the court.

Nicholas Khan, a lawyer for the European Commission, said the deals indicated Google had rigged the system in its favor and urged courts to maintain the Commission's verdict and fine.

"Even before the race begins, Google awards itself the laurel wreath," Khan added. "The magnitude of the wrongdoings fully justifies the fine that was levied." It was unclear when the case T-604/18 Google vs European Commission would reach a conclusion.