Official confirmation from the European Commission has arrived. Google received a fine of 4,34 billion euros for violating competition rules with its Android operating system. It is the highest fine ever imposed by Brussels, even if, for a giant like Big G, it represents a largely sustainable amount.
However, the hard hand of the EU does not stop there. The Commission has indeed announced that the Mountain View company will have 90 days to put an end to its anti-competitive conductotherwise he will face an even heavier punishment, paying "penalties of up to 5% of the average daily turnover of Alphabet, parent company of Google".
But what would the Web giant have done to deserve such an exemplary sanction? Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager explained it: Google has “imposed illegal restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators in order to consolidate its dominance in general Internet search”.
“Our case – continued Vestager – concerns three types of restrictions imposed by Google on Android device manufacturers and network operators to ensure that traffic on Android devices goes to Google's search engine. In this way, Google has used Android as a vehicle to consolidate its search engine's dominance. These practices have denied competitors the opportunity to innovate and compete on the merits. And they have denied European consumers the benefits of effective competition in the all-important mobile sphere. All of this is illegal under EU antitrust rules”.
Moving from theory to practice, the allegations date back to April 2016 after an investigation showed how the company forces smartphone and tablet makers to use its search products, monopolizing advertising revenue. In detail, Big G has forced manufacturers to pre-install the Play Store (Google's app store) on all Android devices. The Play Store, by the way, can only be downloaded through Google Search, which in turn can only be found with Google Chrome. In short, a chain that according to the EU would represent an abuse of a dominant position. But the irregularities do not stop there, the Mountain View giant ""paid some large manufacturers and mobile network operators to exclusively pre-install the Google Search application on their devices" and lastly "prevented manufacturers who wished to pre-install Google applications to sell even one smart mobile device running on non-Google-approved alternative versions of Android (so-called “Android forks")".
These are the reasons for the fine. Furthermore, in the next 90 days, "at a minimum, Google must stop and not re-engage in any of the three types of practices" contested by the Commission. The decision also "requires Google to refrain from any measure that has the same object or an equivalent object or similar effect to these practices."
Faced with these prospects, however, Google has no intention of giving up and has already announced its intention to appeal: “Android – explained a spokesman – has created more choices for everyone, not less: a thriving ecosystem, rapid innovation and lower prices are the classic characteristics of stiff competition. We will appeal the Commission's decision."
We recall that it is not the first time that Big G has faced the EU Commission's ax: in 2017, in fact, the 2,4 billion euro fine for the Google Shopping case arrived.
