Yahoo Finance EU prepares to hit Google with record fine in Android monopoly case
Google will next week be hit with a record EU fine for using its Android smartphone system to fortify its search empire.
The fine, likely to be handed down on Tuesday or Wednesday, is expected to eclipse the £2.1bn monopoly abuse penalty Google paid last year over its internet shopping business, and escalates the war between Silicon Valley and Brussels.
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s competition chief, has been investigating Google for three years over complaints the company illegally forces smartphone manufacturers to install its apps.
It gives its Android software to phone manufacturers for free, but binds them to “exclusivity agreements” that force them to install Google’s web browser and search engine if they use the Google Play app store.
Opponents claim that this constitutes abuse of Android’s 74pc share of the European smartphone market and harms rival search engines and browsers. Google, meanwhile, insists the agreements allow Android to remain free to manufacturers and help them compete against Apple.
The commission has the power to fine Google up to 10pc of its parent company Alphabet’s annual turnover, or €9.5bn (£8.4bn).
Although it is not expected to use the full extent of its powers, the fine is likely to be higher than the €2.4bn Google was ordered to pay in June last year over claims it stuffed search results with its own shopping adverts, squeezing out price comparison services.
As well as the fine, Google is set to be ordered to break its agreements with phone manufacturers. This could mean more Android phones being sold without Google software installed, potentially boosting rival search engines and web browsers such as Microsoft’s Bing or Firefox.
Sources said the fine is expected on Tuesday or Wednesday, although the decision could be pushed back to the following week, before the Brussels summer break. Meetings of EU Commissioners and European competition authorities are scheduled to be held on Tuesday to finalise the decision. Google and the commission did not comment.
