South Korea's antitrust watchdog affirms that the agency will investigate if Google inked agreements with Android reliant smartphone builders in a way that tampers with market competition.
Jeong Jae-chan, the head of Korea Fair Trade Commission, says that the regulator will look into anti-competition issues pertaining to the policies Google has in store, but kept mum about the details of the endeavor.
The agency announced in August that it plans to focus its attention on the American tech company and try to determine if Google broke the anti-competition laws in South Korea.
However, the KFTC did not mention what charges might be in place, should Google be found guilty. Google was involved in antitrust investigations before in the country, as the KFTC suspects that the company leverages Android's dominance to stifle competition.
South Korea is not the only market where Google is facing penalties.
In April, the European Union's Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that a five-year antitrust investigation into Google's practices in Europe concluded that the company harms both its rivals and consumers. To be precise, the search engine company places paid search results from Google Shopping at the top of the search results page, thus misleading the consumers.
Earlier this month, antitrust regulators from the EU warned the company again, as it appears that Google has disrespected the laws of free market competition in the region.
Specifically, the EU urges Google to stop forcing (read: paying) handset manufacturers to embed only Google Search on their gadgets. Not less importantly, the European regulators are aiming to make sure that the company allows OEMs to choose which proprietary Google apps come pre-installed in their Android smartphones.
"The Commission intends to set the fine at a level which will be sufficient to ensure deterrence," says the European Commission.
On its end, Google is defending its policies and claims that it is not eliminating competition by exploiting its place as leader of the pack.
The company affirmed that it will bring evidence to the Commission that the Android model is crafted to benefit both consumers who use it and the companies that implement it.
Should the EU come to the conclusion that Google broke European antitrust laws, the Commission could force Google to shell out as much as $6.7 billion, amassing to about 10 percent of its annual revenue.
Do you believe such a fine would teach Google to play nice with its rivals? Let us know in the comments below.
