The heart of the matter below is this: in business, competition is good for consumers. Move by business that frustrate competition are bad. But of course, limiting competition is a good way to make a profit, so companies are constantly tempted. A platform like a smart phone provides an “ecosystem” that enables other companies (in this case, app makers) to provide services and make money. But in the present case, regulators in the EU have decided that Google’s actions (making Google Search the default search engine on phones running the Android operating system) is an unacceptable hindrance to competition — namely, competition from other search firms.
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LINK: Google hit with record $5-billion fine by EU in Android antitrust case (from the Globe and Mail)
EU regulators hit Google with a record 4.34 billion euros (US$5-billion) antitrust fine on Wednesday for using its Android mobile operating system to squeeze out rivals.
The penalty is nearly double the previous record of 2.4 billion euros which the U.S. tech company was ordered to pay last year over its online shopping search service.
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“Google has used Android as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine. These practices have denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits. They have denied European consumers the benefits of effective competition in the important mobile sphere,” [EU antitrust chief Margrethe] Vestager said….
What do you think?
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