Google agrees to $36 million fine over Android search deals

Google has agreed to pay a Aus$55 million (US$36 million) penalty for striking “anti-competitive” deals to pre-install only its own search engine on Android mobile phones sold by two leading Australian telecoms firms.

Australia’s competition authority said it had launched proceedings in the Federal Court and jointly submitted with Google Asia Pacific that it should pay the fine.

The court would now decide whether the agreed penalty and other orders were “appropriate”, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement released on Monday.

“Conduct that restricts competition is illegal in Australia because it usually means less choice, higher costs or worse service for consumers,” said the commission’s chair, Gina-Cass Gottlieb.

Google had cooperated with the competition commission and admitted reaching the deals with telecoms firms Telstra and Optus, which were in place from December 2019 to March 2021, the body said.

In return for only installing Google’s search engine, Telstra and Optus had received a share of the resulting advertising revenue, the commission said.

“Google has admitted in reaching those understandings with each of Telstra and Optus it was likely to have had the effect of substantially lessening competition,” it said.

Google said it was pleased to have resolved the regulator’s concerns over the provisions, adding that they had not been in its commercial agreements for “some time”.

“We are committed to providing Android device makers more flexibility to preload browsers and search apps,” a Google spokesperson said.

Telstra and Optus entered court-enforceable agreements last year not to make new agreements to pre-install Google search as the default on Android devices, the competition watchdog said.