Google has agreed to pay an aus penalty of $ 55 million (36 million US dollars for concluding “anti-competitive” offers to pre-install its own search engine on Android mobile phones sold by two main Australian telecommunications companies.
Australia Authority Authority said it had launched procedures before the Federal Court and submitted jointly with Google Asia Pacific which he should pay the fine.
The court would now decide whether the sanction agreed and other orders were “ appropriate, ” said the Australian Competition and Consumers’ Commission in a statement published on Monday.
“The driving that restricts competition is illegal in Australia, as it generally means less choice, higher costs or worst services for consumers,” said the president of the commission, Gina-Cass Gottlieb.
Google had cooperated with the Competition Committee and admitted that it had concluded agreements with telecommunications companies such astra and Optus, which were in place from December 2019 to March 2021, the body said.
In exchange for the installation only of Google’s search engine, Teltra and Optus had received a share of the resulting advertising revenues, the Commission said.
“Google admitted to having reached these understanding with each of such and optus that it would probably have had the effect of considerably reducing competition,” he said.
Google said it was happy to have resolved the regulator’s concerns about the provisions, adding that they had not been in its trade agreements for some time.
“We are committed to providing Android manufacturers with more flexibility to preload browsers and research applications,” said a Google spokesperson.
Teltra and Optus concluded agreements applicable to the Court last year so as not to conclude new agreements to pre-install Google research as defect in Android devices, said the competition dog.
