Europe vs. Android what can change infopost

The European Commission has accused Google and its parent company Alphabet of violating European Union competition laws for abusing their dominant position with Android, reports La Vanguardia. If the accusation is successful, Google risks a fine of 10% of its turnover, which is equivalent to about 6,500 million euros. Competition accuses the American giant of authorizing the free use of Android to smartphone manufacturers, but in exchange for incorporating Google’s suite of apps into the phone without the consumer having chosen it. Thus, applications are pre-installed – Google Search, Chrome, YouTube, Google Drive, Google Maps… – preventing other alternatives from being included, and forcing them to be given a priority place in the application drawer.

It is not the first time that Google has confronted the European executive, last year they were accused of distorting the results of their search engine’s shopping comparator to favor their own services. In the current case, the European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager defends its importance because smartphones and tablets represent the largest Internet traffic and are increasing; figures the market share of Android mobile devices at 80%. Google in its disclaimer argues that thanks to Android it is easy to create applications from which users can choose “at lower prices”, as well as between devices.

What will change for the user if the lawsuit is successful? Manufacturers using Android will be able to pre-install applications that directly compete with Google’s and, on the other hand, the priority currently required for Google apps could be limited.