The European Union’s antitrust chief has fined Google a record USD5 billion for abusing the market dominance of its Android mobile phone operating system.
EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said yesterday that Google went against EU rules when it required mobile phone producers to pre-install the Google Search and browser apps as a condition for licensing Google’s app store. She said Google also paid big producers to exclusively pre-install the Google Search app.
Vestager said that “companies must compete on their merits,” playing by antitrust rules that favor consumers and open markets, and not restrict competition.
Google said that instead of restricting competition, it did the opposite. “Android has created more choice for everyone, not less,” said Google spokesman Al Verney.
“We will appeal the Commission’s decision,” he added.
The EU’s fine is the biggest ever imposed on a company for anticompetitive behavior.
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