Google Faces New EU Complaint Over Android -- 2nd Update
March 07 2017 - 01:01PM
Dow Jones News
By Natalia Drozdiak
BRUSSELS- -- A group of Google adversaries announced a new
formal complaint Tuesday to the European Union's antitrust watchdog
over the Alphabet Inc. unit's behavior with its Android
mobile-operating service.
The Open Internet Project, whose members include German
publishing giants Axel Springer SE and Hubert Burda Media, as well
as a handful of French internet companies, said it had filed a new
complaint to the EU against Google because the technology giant had
"imposed contractual restraints on manufacturers of Android
smartphones and tablets, which make it virtually impossible for
them to produce and market Google-free devices."
The European Commission, the bloc's antitrust watchdog, last
April accused Google of using its Android mobile-operating system,
which runs more than 80% of the world's smartphones, to strong-arm
phone makers and telecom companies into favoring Google's search
engine and browser on their devices.
The latest complaint increases pressure on Google, as well as
the regulator, to complete the various investigations into the
company.
App developer Disconnect Inc. as well as Fairsearch, a coalition
of Google's competitors, have both filed formal complaints to the
EU related to Google's behavior with Android.
In addition, the EU has formally accused Google of skewing its
online search results to favor its comparison-shopping service and
alleged the company violates the bloc's rules by restricting how
websites offering Google's search function can show advertisements
from other companies.
The regulator is moving forward with its decision against Google
in the shopping case, according to people familiar with the matter.
The EU has asked some complainants whether the information they
submitted is nonconfidential and could be shared with Google. This
is a sign the commission is preparing to show the company more
evidence on which it plans to base its decision, the sources
said.
Any decision in the shopping case is likely more than a month
away because the commission's judgment would need to be reviewed by
a committee of competition authorities from the EU's member
states.
Decisions in the advertising and Android cases would follow
later.
With its Android complaint, the organization said it hoped to
provide the commission with more evidence that could help the
commission come to a decision and order changes to Google's
behavior.
OIP said Google's Chrome browser for mobile defaults to a Google
search bar and only offers users several alternative search engines
to change the default, but those options don't include French
search engine Qwant, one of OIP's top members.
"When you control search, you control the Android," said Éric
Leandri, president of OIP and Chief Executive of Qwant.
A mobile version of Chrome currently in development but
available for people to try out allows other search engines to be
set as the default search bar.
App developer Disconnect Inc. as well as Fairsearch, a coalition
of Google's competitors, have also both filed formal complaints to
the EU related to Google's behavior with Android.
OIP also said it would join forces with the Initiative for a
Competitive Online Marketplace, another European lobbying group
that targets Google. It said it aimed to fight any "abuses of
dominant position" by Google and fellow U.S. tech giants, Apple
Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
Icomp was initially founded by Microsoft Inc. to campaign
against Google in Europe, but Microsoft pulled its support for the
group last April after it agreed with Google to end regulatory
battles around the globe.
News Corp., owner of The Wall Street Journal, has filed two
complaints with the EU involving Google's competition
practices.
Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 07, 2017 12:46 ET (17:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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