Google is renowned for its search engine, but the tech giant has expanded into other industries since its humble beginnings. From smartwatches to operating systems, there seems to be a Google product or service for everything. That being said, countries around the globe have been keeping an eye on the company’s reach. Now, Japan is joiningother countriesin raising the alarm over how Google is impacting fair competition.
At a news conference on October 23, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) announced that it is looking into whether Google violated the country’s antimonopoly regulations (viaReuters). The JFTC is specifically investigating whether Google paid Android phone manufacturers to avoid installing search engines from its competitors. The company is being scrutinized for its practices around installing Google Search and Chrome on Android devices through the Play Store app as well. A JFTC official clarified that the issue isn’t about whether the majority of people are using Google services — it’s about whether the company attempted to stifle competition.
This is not the first time that the tech giant has garnered interest from governing bodies in regard to how it’s affecting the industry at large. In the US, theJustice Department began an investigationin 2020 with similar allegations, and the 10-week trial is currently underway with verdict pending. Specifically, regulators are alleging that Google formed improper agreements with other companies to put their search engine above alternatives from competitors.
Overseas, Japan isn’t the only country taking up issue with Google — South Korea followed up on a similar investigation in August 2023.Google was originally fined approximately $31.5 millionover Play Store practices in April 2023. Ki-Jeong Han, chair of the country’s Fair Trade Commission, announced that the company would be internally monitored from here on out. Agreements with local developers are also being revised to ensure that Google complies with regulations designed to maintain fair competition. The company had been accused of warning developers not to participate in OneStore — South Korea’s local app store — and threatening to remove them from the Play Store. In turn, OneStore supposedly missed out on reaching tens of millions of users.
While these accusations range in severity, they all have the potential to raise the ire of regulating bodies designed to prevent monopolies. In the least, it would appear that lawmakers are insistent on maintaining fair competition — something that Google is allegedly trying to squash. If any of these claims are valid, the tech company may need to clean up its act if it intends to expand its reach at home and abroad.
