The European Commission has imposed a staggering record fine of 4.34 billion euros on Google. According to the EU, the company has abused its dominant position with the mobile operating system Android.
Euro commissioner Margrethe Vestager spilled the beans Wednesday on Twitter, prior to a press conference. According to Brussels, smartphone makers who wanted to use Android were obliged to pre-install the company's search engine. That gave Googles search engine an unfair advantage over other search engines. In addition, Google would have paid phone makers to make sure that they would also install the Google Search app. Finally, Google would not have allowed manufacturers to install customized versions of Android that were not approved by the company on devices.
Bundle
The Google apps pre-installed are offered as bundles by manufacturers. Therefore, a phone-maker can not choose to pre-install Chrome without even putting Gmail and the Play Store on the phone. "Less than one percent of users are going to an app store to download a different search app," says Vestager. "Most smartphone owners continue to use the software supplied as standard."
Vestager states that Google has secured this way of "the dominance of its own search engine". Competitors would therefore not be able to compete according to the European Commissioner. With this, Google is acting in violation of European law.
Ninety days
The search giant has ninety days to put a halt to its abuse of power. If the company fails to do so, more fines may be assigned. Android is the most used mobile operating system in the world. According to market researcher Gartner, the operating system was installed on 85 percent of all phones sold in 2017. Google is under scrutiny due to its dominant position in Europe. Because Google products are used by many people, the company can put its own services forward and distort competition in the market, the committee fears. The company was already fined 2.4 billion euros in 2017, because the price comparator of Google was shown more prominently in search results than competing websites. EU research showed that 90 percent of all search traffic is via Google.
Google posted on Twitter and mentions to appeal against the decision. "Android has created more choice for everyone, not less." A vibrant ecosystem, rapid innovation and lower prices are classic features of robust competition, "said the Google.
