Big news related to Google and Android this morning, as the European Commission has hit Google with a huge antitrust fine.

The EU announced today that it's fined Google €4.34 billion ($5.05 billion USD) for breaching EU antitrust rules. The EU says that since 2011, Google has "imposed illegal restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators to cement its dominant position in general internet search."

Specifically, the EU says that Google has required manufacturers to preinstall the Google Search app and Google Chrome in order to license the Google Play store. The EU says that Google has also made payments to "certain large manufacturers and mobile network operators" so that they'll preinstall the Google Search app on their devices, and that Google has blocked manufacturers that want to preinstall Google apps from selling devices that run a custom, forked version of Android.

Google has said that it plans to appeal the EU's fine. In a blog post, Google CEO Sundar Pichai argues that it's easy for Android users to remove a preinstalled app and replace it with another. Pichai also says that its preinstalled apps "help ensure the phone 'just works'" and that phone makers have the option to preinstall competing apps alongside the Google apps. Additionally, Pichai argues that Google only earns revenue if people actually use its apps instead of rival apps.