European Union antitrust regulators may fine Alphabet's Google for anti-competitive practices.
According to Tech Times, the EU may fine Google for violating anti-trust regulations in its efforts to push Android over rivals. The EU considers that the practice of Google paying smartphone makers to install Google Search exclusively on their devices is anti-competitive.
Antitrust regulators in the European Union are reportedly seeking feedback after they sent last week a 150-page document to complainants. Back in April, the Eurpean Commission first argued that Google used its Android operating system to take advantage of its dominant position on the mobile markets.
According to Android Headlines, now antitrust regulators are planning to order Google to stop its program that pays smartphone manufacturers using Android on their smartphones, such as Sony, HTC, LG and Samsung, to pre-install Google Play Store and Google Search on their devices.
One of the complainants against Google's violation of anti-trust laws in European Union is a group called FairSearch. This group is the one that first prompted the European Commission to investigate Google back in 2013.
Another issue blamed on Google by the European Commission is the fact that the company is forcing smartphone manufacturers to pre-install its proprietary apps such as Gmail, Google+ and others. However, this violates the anti-trust legislation in the EU only if it restricts smartphone manufacturers from making use of competing operating systems.
In the European Union, the issue of Google being involved in anti-competitive practices is still ongoing from the year 2011. Considering the lengthy period of the alleged breaking of the EU anti-trust legislation, the fine Google will be given will probably rise up to a huge sum.
The fine could be based on the revenue generated by Google from Play Store purchases, AdWords clicks by European users, Google Search product queries and AdMob's in-app advertisements. The company could also be fined on top of that fine for abusing its power with Google Search, trying to dominate results for shopping.
