Exclusive search engine: Google pays million-euro fine in Australia

Google has reached an out-of-court agreement with the Australian Competition Commission (ACCC) to pay a fine of 55 million Australian dollars. This is equivalent to around 30.7 million euros. The settlement follows a complaint by the ACCC: the parent company Alphabet is said to have paid two of Australia's largest network operators, Telstra and Optus, to pre-install Google as the only search service on Android smartphones. Google allegedly wanted to harm its competitors in this way.

The case concerns smartphones that Telstra and Optus customers received on mobile phone contracts between December 2019 and March 2021. According to the ACCC, in return for the exclusive pre-installation of the Google search engine, Google gave the two network operators a share of the advertising revenue generated by Google searches on the devices.

Court still has to give its approval

According to the announcement by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, a court will soon have to decide whether the fine of 55 million Australian dollars is appropriate. The ACCC praises Google's willingness to reach an out-of-court settlement, which could prevent a lengthy legal dispute in court.

(mma)