its Android mobile operating system in October after the
European Commission hit the company with a record $5 billion
antitrust fine for pre-installing its own apps and services on
third-party Android phones.
The European Commission accused Google of forcing Android phone
manufacturers to “illegally” tie its proprietary apps and
services—specifically, Chrome and Google Search as the default
browsers—to Android, unfairly blocking
competitors from reaching consumers.
[3]
This rule led Google to change the way it licenses the Google
mobile application suite to Android smartphone makers. Now, Google
is further making some changes related to browser and search engine
choice.
In a blog
post[4] published Tuesday,
Google announced that the company would prompt Android phone owners
in Europe (new and existing ones) in the coming months to choose
from a variety of web browsers and search engines for their devices
as their default apps.
“Now we will also do more to ensure that Android phone owners know
about the wide choice of browsers and search engines available to
download to their phones,” the company says.
“This will involve asking users of existing and new Android
devices in Europe which browser and search apps they would like to
use.”
during the phone setup phase.
The move comes a few months after Google revealed its new paid licensing
agreements[5] for Google apps on
third-party Android smartphones.
The new licensing scheme applied only to Android devices in the
European Economic Area (comprises the 28 EU countries along with
Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) and required phone makers to
obtain separate, paid licenses if they want to include:
- Play Store, Maps, Gmail, and YouTube without Chrome, and
Search - Everything, including Chrome, and Search
This change allowed smartphone makers in Europe to install any app
they want to serve as alternatives to Google apps without being
forced to bundle Google Search and Chrome.
Google also said Android users have always been free to download
any browser and search engine apps they want, “irrespective of what
came pre-installed on the phone,” noting that “a typical Android
phone user will usually install around 50 additional apps on their
phone.”
The company has likely come up with these latest changes to show
the European Union its “continued commitment to operating in an
open and principled way.”
Not just for Google’s mobile operating system, but the European
Union also fined Google $2.7 billion in
June 2017[6] over abusing the way it
prioritizes its own shopping results at the top of its search
results at the expense of its rival products.
In the latest blog post, the tech giant also announced some
changes to Google Shopping, which includes providing “direct links
to comparison shopping sites, alongside specific product offers
from merchants.”
References
- ^
major changes for its Android
(thehackernews.com) - ^
record $5 billion antitrust fine
(thehackernews.com) - ^
blocking competitors
(thehackernews.com) - ^
blog post
(blog.google) - ^
new paid licensing agreements
(thehackernews.com) - ^
$2.7 billion in June 2017
(thehackernews.com)
Read more http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheHackersNews/~3/aOyhYiTBv3Q/google-android-europe-chrome.html