Google agreed to pay a fine of almost 36 million dollars after an investigation conducted by the Australian antimonopoly authorities. The regulators established that the company entered into agreements with telecommunications operators Telstra and Optus, which provides for the installation of Google Search as the only search engine on the smartphones they sold.
In return, the operators received part of Google’s advertising revenue, which, according to the authorities, limited competition and deprived users of the possibility of choosing alternative search services.
The company collaborated with the investigation, recognized its responsibility and agreed to remove part of the restrictions. In particular, Google pledged to abandon some default search engine installations and soften the terms of contracts with manufacturers of Android Smartphones and mobile networks.
According to representatives of the Australian Commission for the Protection of Competition and Consumers, the agreement reached will increase the freedom of choice for users in the country and strengthen competition in the search services market.
