The European Commission has fined Google €4.34bn for imposing restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices aimed at reinforcing the tech firm’s dominance over the search engine market.
The Commission opened its investigation into Google’s conduct in 2015, amid concerns that the company’s Android mobile device restrictions and conduct might breach the EU’s competition and antitrust regulations. Now, the European Commission has fined Google €4.34bn for breaching these rules, and ordered the company to cease the actions that were found to be in violation of EU law within 90 days or face additional penalty payments.
What were the Android mobile device restrictions the Commission objected to?
The Commission’s decision relates to three specific types of contractual restrictions which Google imposed on device manufacturers and mobile network operators, and which were found to be in breach of EU antitrust rules.
Among these was a mandate for Android device manufacturers that the tech firm’s search and web browser apps (Google Search and Google Chrome, respectively) come pre-installed on all devices as a condition for licensing its app store.
Another concern was that Google paid certain device manufacturers and mobile network operators to pre-install the Google Search app on their devices exclusively, and the final restriction was that those companies which had licensed Google’s apps were forbidden from selling devices which could run on alternative versions of Android which were not approved by the tech giant.
Why was Google’s conduct a concern to the Commission?
The European Commission’s concern was that Google was using these restrictions to ensure it retained its dominance in the search engine market, particularly given that the company earns most of its revenue from its search engine services. Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager warned about the threat that Google’s conduct poses to competition, particularly in a rapidly growing online market.
She explained: “Today, mobile internet makes up more than half of global internet traffic… Google has used Android as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine. [Its] practices have denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits. They have denied European consumers the benefits of effective competition in the important mobile sphere. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules.”
