This Wednesday (18), the European Union imposed a record fine of 4,3 billion euros against Google for abusing the market leadership of its Android operating system, which ends up harming competition.
"Google uses Android as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules," said Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, in a statement.
- How to download YouTube audio/music without using programs in 2021
- OneDrive vs Google Drive Comparison: Which is the best cloud storage service?
The fine, although high, represents only two weeks of revenue for Alphabet, which runs Google. In addition, he has a reserve of 102,9 billion dollars.
In the current case, which was opened three years ago, market regulators claimed that Google forced smartphone manufacturers, such as Huawei and Samsung, to install the Google Search search engine and the Chrome browser if they wanted to have access to other apps the company had. .
To top it off, Google is still being accused of providing "financial incentives" to cellular phone network manufacturers and operators if they pre-installed Google Search on their devices.
According to the EU, Google has barred manufacturers from selling devices with rival operating systems based on Android's open source.
The company denies all the allegations. Android, it is worth mentioning, leads the market and is used in about 80% of devices worldwide.
The company's high payouts to app developers, combined with its close relationship with thousands of advertisers, has made Google the biggest source of revenue for many apps. The company's virtual store is responsible for more than 90% of apps downloaded on Android devices in Europe.
