Google will pay Australia $ 36 million on the anti -competitive research agreement with mobile operators

Google has agreed to pay a fine of $ 55 million AUD (36 million USD) for anti -competitive practices, The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced. It comes from the agreements undertaken that Google has undertaken with Australian telecommunications companies such asra and optus to pre-install Google research.

The key is that these companies could not install any other search engine. Teltra and Optus then obtained a share of Google’s advertising revenues from customers using Google Search on their respective androids. Google admitted that these agreements were “likely to have had the effect of considerably reducing competition”. These transactions were in place from December 2019 to March 2021.

“Driving that restricts competition is illegal in Australia, as it generally means less choice, higher costs or worse services for consumers,” said ACCC president Gina-Cass Gottlieb, before transforming AI accent. “Above all, these changes come at a time when AI’s research tools are revolutionizing how we are looking for information, creating new competition. The increasingly available AI search tools, consumers can experiment with research services on their mobiles.”

Unlike certain past cases in which Google defended himself against an investigation Or, the company cooperates. He admitted responsibility and proposed the fine alongside the ACCC. A court will determine if it is an appropriate punishment. Google offered a range of search supplier options to users of the Android EU since 2020 – after facing Another antitrust decision And a fine of 4.3 billion euros ($ 5 billion).

Last year, Teltra and Optus concluded agreements with the ACCC that they would not make similar arrangements with Google in the future.