Government organizations around the world accuse Google of monopolistic practices. The Japanese Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) will announce that Google violates the country’s antitrust laws with regard to the Chrome search engine and issue a letter demanding that it cease such actions, Nikkei Asia reports. The supervisory agency launched an investigation into Google’s activities in October last year.
Reportedly, the JFTC accuses Google of requiring smartphone manufacturers to sign a contract stating that Chrome will not only be preloaded on all devices, but also placed in a certain place on the screen. Manufacturers are allegedly forced to do this in order to make Google Play available on their devices.
In the United States, federal judge Amit Mehta ruled in November that Google “is a monopoly” in the search engine industry. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) called on Google to sell Chrome, as this would “permanently end Google’s control over this critical search access point and allow competing search engines to access the browser that is the gateway to the Internet for many users.” The DOJ also called on Google to stop favoring Chrome on Android. Google recently published an offer to appease the DOJ, but said it would appeal the judge’s decision before a hearing scheduled for April.
