EU's Google Probe Homes In on Preloaded Apps
April 18 2016 - 07:00AM
Dow Jones News
BRUSSELS—The European Union's competition chief on Monday said
she was closely investigating whether Alphabet Inc.'s Google was
shutting out rivals in its Android operating-system contracts with
phone makers and telecom operators, suggesting that likely
impending formal antitrust charges would center around the U.S.
tech giant's demand that phone makers preload a folder of its own
apps.
European Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager opened a
formal probe into Google's conduct with its Android operating
system last April, when she also filed separate formal charges
against the company for allegedly skewing its search results to
favor its own shopping service.
At the time, she said the commission would look into allegations
that Google requires smartphone and tablet-computer makers to
pre-install a suite of its own apps for messages, search, email and
other functions if a manufacturer wants to include any of them.
She also said she would look into accusations that Google
prevents phone makers from developing modified versions of the
Android operating system despite the tech company's claim that
Android is an open mobile platform.
But on Monday, Ms. Vestager only made mention of the first area
of concern.
"Our concern is that, by requiring phone makers and operators to
preload a set of Google apps, rather than letting them decide for
themselves which apps to load, Google might have cut off one of the
main ways that new apps can reach customers," she said.
"Anyone can use Android with or without Google applications," a
Google spokesman said. "Hardware manufacturers and carriers can
decide how to use Android and consumers have the last word about
which apps they want to use on their devices."
If phone makers want to install any Google applications, Google
requires them to pre-install a folder of 11 apps within one flick
of the home screen.
Ms. Vestager drew comparisons between Google and Microsoft
Corp., which the commission a decade ago decided was abusing its
dominance for shutting out rivals in the media player market by
including Microsoft's own player with the Windows operating system.
The EU hit Microsoft with a €497 million ($560.89 million) fine for
that decision.
As in the Microsoft case, the commission is concerned that
consumers wouldn't try alternatives if the Google version is
already loaded on the device, putting small innovators at a
disadvantage.
Ms. Vestager said the investigation was still ongoing and
couldn't yet say whether the company has broken the rules. People
familiar with the matter say the commission is finalizing its
formal charges against Google over its conduct with Android.
The antitrust chief also stressed that web search results, when
shopping online for example, should pull up the most relevant
results with the best price.
"That's one reason to be so concerned that Google seems to favor
its own comparison shopping service in search results," she
said.
The commission is expected to issue its decision in the Google
shopping case by the summer, according to a person familiar with
the matter.
News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, on Monday filed its
second formal complaint with the commission over Google, according
to a person familiar with the matter.
In Monday's complaint, News Corp is concerned Google reinforces
its dominance in general search by "scraping" or copying content
from publishers to display the results of news articles, according
to the person. News Corp alleges that if the publisher doesn't want
the content to be copied, Google doesn't show the articles in the
results at all, the person said.
The European Commission is already investigating allegations
that Google copies or "scrapes" rival Web content, but so far
hasn't issued any formal charges in the area.
News Corp filed a separate complaint regarding Google's
competition practices last April, but has declined to disclose
further details about that complaint.
Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 18, 2016 06:45 ET (10:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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