European Union Receives Antitrust Complaint About Android

[JMcEntegart]

FairSearch says Google is using Android as a 'Trojan Horse' to deceive partners.

European Union Receives Antitrust Complaint About Android : Read more

 

[irish_adam]

you mean like windows phone pushes bing in the same way?

 

[silverblue]

Microsoft complaining about another company having a lesser monopoly than it has enjoyed in the past albeit in a different market? Amusing.

 

[merikafyeah]

Testing comment. An error occurred posting previous comments.

 

[merikafyeah]

Another day, another EU antitrust farce. It's Google's f***ing OS. God forbid anything from Google could be prominently featured in an OS maintained by Google. That's just ridiculous. I mean, look at Apple. Their system is the pinnacle of openness. It's not as though they only allow their own OS on their systems or anything like that. Nope. Nothing here screams antitrust at all.

 

[merikafyeah]

The only thing that could be more inane is if the EU started fining a company hundreds of millions for including their own browser in their own OS. But that would never happen, because there are competent people running the EU with way more important things to do with their time.

 

[ihog]

Is it me or is it pretty straight forward? If you want our OS for free, then you have to put our apps on there. How is anyone being "deceived?"

 

[Memnarchon]

What's wrong with comments today?

 

[merikafyeah]

Strange. I can post the first and second half of my original comment separately, but when I try to combine them into one post an error occurs. New word count limit Toms? Yet another step backwards. I just hope they did away with the whole slideshow thing which I'm certain EVERYONE hates passionately. That and the fact that images have to be loaded in a separate tab inside of another tab, a la 1998.

 

[ddpruitt]

phone makers that want apps like Maps, or YouTube are forced to 'pre-load an entire suite of Google mobile services and to give them prominent default placement on the phone.'

Actually they require neither. If you want to put GApps on your device you have to have the device sent for approval. Then when you get approval you can stick them wherever you'd like. Just look at what Verizon does, most of the GApps are buried in menus and they turn on their own services by default.

Sounds like MS and Nokia are unhappy they can't compete with inferior products.

 

[cumi2k4]

how cute..."FairSearch" ... how about google starting to fund a coalition for "FairOS", also, those directX surely monopolize the gaming community...

 

[Achoo22]

It seems to me that the allegations are true. It's pretty freaking difficult to install, eg, Maps without installing the frameworks, the secure login helper, Play, and a few other packages that have absolutely zero to do with maps. I guess it remains to be seen whether or not this is illegal, but it's certainly annoying. Applications should do ONLY what they are stated to do.

 

[Achoo22]

It seems to me that the allegations are true. It's pretty freaking difficult to install, eg, Maps without installing the frameworks, the secure login helper, Play, and a few other packages that have absolutely zero to do with maps. I guess it remains to be seen whether or not this is illegal, but it's certainly annoying. Applications should do ONLY what they are stated to do.

 

[janetonly42]

The convicted monopolist Microsoft is getting desperate.

 

[The_Trutherizer]

Outlook has prominent default placement on Windows. So does Internet explorer. And any time you set other vendor's software as default on your system the system will try and re-instate IE at every chance. So what's up with that? I would object strongly to the EU sustaining this request. I believe you can use any browser, mail or social network on your android phone (if the vendors of often proprietary crap even allows it)

 

[Bloob]

Well, Android is pretty much a monopoly in mobile atm, so Google should be monitored as tightly as MS is in desktop (if not more so).

 

[PraxGTI]

Personally I don't find these accusations to have any merit. Google provides a fantastic and complete product and consumers want it that way. Competitors have not come up with anything better and are now complaining that they cannot get any market share...well step up your game then whiners.


Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, TripAdvisor, Kayak and Hotwire, let me touch on those. Google's search for Microsoft knowledgebase articles is more effective than on Microsoft's actual webiste. I can find more information about specs, firmware, or troubleshooting for Nokia on Google than on any other search engine, or on Nokia's webiste. Same goes for the others. There is more helpful information to be found on all of Oracle's resources by using Google than by searching on Oracles page.

If they want to complain, they should make products that can actually compete instead of taking away from something that the consumer is benefiting from immensely. Google maps couldn't be possible without the implementation of their location services / search technology and one of the biggest companies in the world (*cough* Apple *cough*) couldn't do any better even with their massive amount of net worth and cashflow.

Wake up EU, better products = more consumers buy them = competition needs to try harder. The EU needs to stop trying to regulate the market based on crappy products that consumers aren't using and aren't buying because they are lower quality and are less functional. Deal with it.

 

[mariusmotea]

It's almost impossible to change the default search provider (Bing) in internet explorer 8,9,10 . Also a search in internet explorer gallery for google word don't reaveal anything

 

[house70]

Man. Ever since TH switched their forums and such, the system has been going down faster than Titanic. Now they screwed up the comments section.

 

[kartu]

you mean like windows phone pushes bing in the same way?

With 1-3% of the market, they are safe doing it. I dislike microsoft and I pity Nokia, but...

So company A, that has no interest in the market B, invests money and effectively kills competition there (go compete with something that is free and funded by multi-billion company) TO PUSH its search engine. How could that be right?

Oh, and every time I do search with google, it keeps hinting me to upgrade my browser to chrome. Should we allow monopolists to push whatever they want like that?

 

[hoofhearted]

Phone makers are not forced to take Google apps with the OS.

 

[hoofhearted]

Google is not the bad guy here, but these other device makers and wireless carriers who want to replace the Google apps with their own proprietary, cheezy, hoopdie, nickel-and-dime the consumer to death, versions of the same software.

 

[bigdragon]

This is a chicken or egg problem. Why wouldn't I want Google's mobile services and apps on my Android phone? There isn't anything comparable from Microsoft, Oracle, HotWire, and the others. If these companies want to lodge serious complaints then maybe they should actually develop replacement apps and services for Android first.

 

[sun-devil99]

I guess the $730 million they levied against Microsoft earlier this year for the Browser Ballot issue with Windows 7 wasn't enough money to support the organization.

 

[Vorador2]

Pot calling the kettle black.