Earlier in the week we heard the the European regulators may launch an antitrust complaint against Google over their Android OS, it is now official and the European Commission is alleging that Google has breached European antitrust regulations.
According to the details released by the European Commission, Google has breached the rules in three different ways.
The first breach that the EU are charging Google will is requiring manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and also their Chrome browser ion their devices, they have also said that setting Google Search as the default search provide on devices is also a breach of the rules.
The second breach is related to selling smartphones and tablet with competing operating systems that are based on Google’s Android source code.
The third breach of the rules is releated to Google giving financial incentives to both mobile operators and device manufacturers for exclusively pre-installing Google search on their devices.
You can see part of the statement from the European regulators below, Google now has a chance to appeal the ruling.
Today, the Commission adopted a Decision to initiate proceedings in the Google Android investigation also against Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, which was created after proceedings had been initiated against Google. The Statement of Objections summarised above is addressed to both Google and Alphabet Inc.
A statement of objections is a formal step in Commission investigations into suspected violations of EU antitrust rules. The Commission informs the parties concerned in writing of the objections raised against them. The addressees can examine the documents in the Commission’s investigation file, reply in writing and request an oral hearing to present their comments on the case before representatives of the Commission and national competition authorities. Sending a Statement of Objections does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation, as the Commission takes a final decision only after the parties have exercised their rights of defence.
Google could possibly face a fine of up to $15 billion, this is 10% of their turnover in the last financial year for each violation, their turnover in 2015 was $74.5 billion, so they could be fined $7.45 billion for each potential violation.
You can see the full statement from the European Commission at the link below, Google will now have a chance to appeal the ruling before any possible fines may be imposed.
Source European Commission
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