EU will force Google to stop Android abuse of power

The European Commission plans to force Google to shut down over its practices around the Android operating system. According to the Commission, Google is committing abuse of power, and the company may also be fined for this.

So far, the European Commission has not released anything official about its warning to Google, but the Reuters news agency says it has seen a document detailing the findings. The document is about 150 pages long and instructs Google to stop offering financial incentives to smartphone makers as a reward for providing Google apps. The Commission also states that Google should stop punishing smartphone makers if they do not provide Google apps; manufacturers should not be hindered if they do not work with Google.

In addition to the warning, it is possible that Google will be fined, because the established abuse of power with Android has been going on for several years. The document shows that the European Commission is considering a fine “sufficient to provide a deterrent.” However, specific amounts are not mentioned in the document.

The European investigation into Google’s abuse of power with Android has been ongoing for some time, as has the threat of a fine. According to the European Commission, Google had to respond to the findings by September. It is not known how Google responded, because the answers have not been made public.

There is also another case pending, in which Google is accused of favoring its own price comparison service in search results. According to the document that Reuters has seen, the European Commission also wants to stop these practices, whereby rival companies must be assigned the same ranking as Google’s own services.

It is unclear when the European Commission will publish its findings. A spokesman declined to comment to Reuters. A spokesperson for Google indicated that his company wants to show that Android is good for the competition.