Google will ask Android users in Europe to pick their preferred browser and search engine

midian182

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In brief: Google has long faced the wrath of the European Commission for breaching antitrust laws. Now, the company has announced it will prompt Android users to pick their preferred web browser and search apps, thereby avoiding any more sanctions.

Back in July last year, Google was hit with a record $5 billion fine by the EU over antitrust violations related to “illegal practices” regarding Android. Officials said that by pre-installing the Chrome browser and Google search app on Android devices, Google had an unfair advantage over its competitors.

Following the fine, Google said it would start offering phone and tablet manufacturers paid licenses for the Play Store and Google’s apps, search engine, and Chrome.

In a recent blog post, SVP of global affairs Kent Walker said that Google would do more to ensure European Android users know about the wide choice of browsers and search engines they can download.

Walker notes that Android users have never been restricted to Google’s products. “On Android phones, you’ve always been able to install any search engine or browser you want, irrespective of what came pre-installed on the phone when you bought it. In fact, a typical Android phone user will usually install around 50 additional apps on their phone,” he wrote.

Google said the prompts will arrive sometime “over the next few months,” though we don’t know which alternative search engines and browsers will be suggested to users. Should the EU decide Google has failed to stop its anti-competitive practices, the company could be fined 5 percent of parent Alphabet’s average daily worldwide turnover.

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Bundling software with your operating system isn't anti-competitive; it's adding features. I don't see how that fine is justified.
 
Bundling software with your operating system isn't anti-competitive; it's adding features. I don't see how that fine is justified.
"Following the fine, Google said it would start offering phone and tablet manufacturers paid licenses for the Play Store and Google’s apps, search engine, and Chrome."
Damn so now they have to make mnfers pay for what was free as well.... When microsoft bundled IE with windows and violated anti trust, it was because they purposely made it hard to install any other web browser. They even made a fake video and submitted it to the court trying to prove how easy it was to install other web browsers...

Apple comes with safari... and no they shouldn't be punished either. You can easily install another web browser. Why do you think mac never faced anti trust prosecution for bundling safari with mac os x... leave google alone...
 
I dislike the EUs heavy handed approach in their dealings with tech companies - and generally resent the unilateral approach it takes in regulating the tech industry as a whole ( that birthed GPDR and their current fumblings in patent/intellectual property policies ). The fines / penalties they levy against US Tech firms are starting to appear as punitive rather than reformative.

Question I have - why isn't apple subject to similiar sanctions ? It's quite simple to switch out the default google apps and services for alternatives in Android OS - but I can't set a single default app on my @#%$ iPhone- not the browser, not mail, not even maps. Safari is a truly sht mobile browser and gdmanit, I want waze as the default nav/maps app.
 
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