Germany’s top competition watchers are stepping up their pace against Google. The Federal Cartel Office announced in Bonn on Wednesday that it intends to ban the US technology company from “various anti-competitive conduct” in its Google Automotive Services. A corresponding letter has been sent to Google Germany and its parent company Alphabet.
It’s a bundle of products from the Google Maps mapping service, a version of the Google Play app store, and the Google Assistant language assistant – these products are used for in-car infotainment systems, using Google’s Android operating system.
The technology company offers its services to car manufacturers for licensing. “We are particularly critical if Google only offers bundled services for infotainment systems, as this reduces the likelihood of competitors selling competing services separately,” said Andreas Mundt, head of the cartel agency. In the current understanding, a number of Google’s practices in licensing services for in-vehicle infotainment systems are inconsistent with applicable law.
Is Google Expanding Its Dominance?
The authority fears that Google will further expand its dominant position by bundling services and that competition will be seriously jeopardized. For example, the Cartel Office finds a contractual condition problematic, according to which car owners are only allowed to install Google Assistant as a voice assistant.
In addition, according to the cartel office, the licensees are required by certain contractual provisions to set the Google services as default or to display them before other services on the screen – from the point of view of the German Federal Cartel Office, this would be an obstacle to access to the market. Presets like these run the risk that alternatives to Google go unnoticed and underused.
As a further point of criticism, the competition authorities point out that Google could make it more difficult or deny the interoperability of their services in the infotainment system with other services. As a result, for example, an alternative voice assistant for the use of Google Maps cannot be used or can only be used to a limited extent.
Google is willing to cooperate
Google now has time to respond. The company said it would continue to work constructively with authorities to address concerns. A spokesperson for the company stressed that there was “huge competition” in the connected car space. “Thousands of applications are compatible with Android Auto and car manufacturers can choose from a variety of information and entertainment services to offer in their vehicles.” to use for their cars.
In January, the amendment to the Restrictions of Competition Act (GWB) came into force in Germany. Since then, the German cartel agency has had more opportunities to act against technology companies. This is intended to ensure well-functioning competition and prevent consumer harm. The federal government is not only targeting Google, but also Amazon and Facebook.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
