(Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s Google, whose clout in search, the Android smartphone operating system and online advertising upended those markets, faces antitrust fights in the United States, Europe and India.
The following are some of the antitrust battles Google is fighting globally:
INDIA: Google lost a big fight in India in mid-January when the Supreme Court refused to block an order from the Competition Commission of India which required Google to remove restrictions from its popular Android smartphone operating system. The order, for example, requires Google to allow users to delete apps like its YouTube subsidiary from Android phones.
UNITED STATES:
The U.S. Justice Department sued Alphabet’s Google for the second time on Tuesday, accusing the company of abusing its dominance of the digital advertising business and saying it should be forced to sell its ad manager suite. Eight states joined the lawsuit.
The U.S. Justice Department first sued Google in 2020 for violating antitrust law to maintain dominance in search and to extend its dominance into other areas. Trial is set for September. A large set of states filed a related lawsuit.
Also in 2020, Texas, backed by nine other states, filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the internet search company of breaking antitrust law in how it runs its online advertising business. The case was moved to New York, to be heard with other, similar cases.
SOUTH KOREA: The antitrust regulator fined Alphabet’s Google 207 billion won ($176.64 million) in September 2021, saying it abused its dominant market position to restrict competition in the mobile operating system market.
EUROPE: Over the last decade, Google has incurred 8.25 billion euros ($8.24 billion) in EU antitrust fines following three investigations into its business practices. These include allegations Google imposed unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices and mobile network operators to consolidate the dominant position of its search engine.
BRITAIN: The Competition and Markets Authority has also moved to rein in Google and Facebook. It created a Digital Markets Unit, which could be given powers to suspend, block and reverse decisions made by technology firms and to impose financial penalties for non-compliance.
(Compiled by Diane Bartz; editing by Grant McCool)
