(Reuters) – The Federal Trade Commission USA (FTC, for its acronym in English) is investigating whether Google is using its Android operating system for mobile devices to discourage competition, said on Friday a source close to the matter.
The Android platform is a key element of the strategy of Google to maintain their income through advertisements on the Internet, at a time when people put aside the search engines on the web to use more traditional advanced mobile applications.
The US regulatory action would be a big problem for the company.
In April, some technology companies complained to the US Justice Department for anti-competitive practices of Google, and urged the regulator to investigate allegations that the company unfairly uses the Android system earn more ads on the Internet.
Previously, Google was under investigation by the FTC on charges of possible illegal practices in its search engine on the web and reached a plea deal in 2013.
The European Union has accused Google distort your Web search results to favor its own services to buy, and now also investigating the Android operating system.
Google shares were operating with a slight drop of 0.21% to $ 654.90 in early trading session on Wall Street.
The new FTC investigation focuses on whether Google is telling device manufacturers Android applications US company must appear on those phones, telling them how they should be deployed, the source said .
The commission and the Department of Justice met to discuss whether to investigate Google and the FTC agreed to take the case. The research is in its early stages, the source said.
No comments:
Post a Comment