Google slapped with major fine after back-to-back legal losses in Australia

On Monday, Google said it would pay a A$55 million ($35.8 million) penalty in Australia. The national consumer regulator found that the company undermined competition by funding the country’s two biggest telecom carriers to load its search app on Android devices, limiting access for rival search engines.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said Monday that the tech giant made deals with Telstra and Optus to share ad revenue from Google Search on Android phones between late 2019 and early 2021.

The regulator said the agreements ensured Google’s search app was pre-installed, reducing visibility for competing search providers.

Google admits unfair practices

Google acknowledged the setup had a substantial effect on rival search engines and said it has stopped entering such agreements.

It also accepted the A$55 million penalty, the ACCC said. “Today’s outcome … created the potential for millions of Australians to have greater search choice in the future, and for competing search providers to gain meaningful exposure to Australian consumers,” ACCC Chair Gina-Cass Gottlieb said.

The ACCC and Google jointly asked the Federal Court to impose the A$55 million fine. The regulator added that the court still needs to rule on the appropriateness of the amount, but that working with the tech giant avoided protracted litigation.

A Google spokesperson said the company was pleased to resolve the ACCC’s concerns, which involved “provisions that haven’t been in our commercial agreements for some time”.

The spokesperson added: “We are committed to providing Android device makers more flexibility to pre-load browsers and search apps, while preserving the offerings and features that help them innovate, compete with Apple, and keep costs low.”

A Telstra spokesperson pointed Reuters to an earlier statement saying Telstra and Optus, which is owned by Singapore Telecommunications, cooperated fully with the ACCC and have pledged not to enter agreements with Google to pre-install its search product since 2024.

The penalty arrives after a difficult week for the Alphabet unit

Days earlier, a court largely sided with Fortnite maker Epic Games in a case alleging that Google and Apple blocked competing app stores on their mobile platforms.

That lawsuit is part of Epic’s long-running push against leading smartphone companies in several markets. According to reports on the Australian decision, the Federal Court concluded the phone makers’ app stores lacked safeguards to prevent anti-competitive conduct.

Epic argued Apple and Google set download fees for its games too high and prevented users from installing Epic’s alternative app store.

The Australian ruling, which spans 2,000 pages, was not made public, but media said a judge’s summary indicated the companies did not intentionally violate the law.

In a post on X, Epic said the Australian court “just found that Apple and Google abuse their control over app distribution and in-app payments to limit competition”.

Cryptopolitan reported last month, YouTube was added to a nationwide rule restricting social media services for people under 16, reversing an earlier decision that had left the video site out of the ban.

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