For its anti-competitive agreements with Australian carriers, Google agrees to pay a $36 million fine

After the consumer watchdog in Australia determined that Google had harmed competition by paying the two biggest telecoms in the nation to pre-install its search app on Android phones, excluding competing search engines, the company agreed to pay a punishment of A$55 million ($35.8 million) on Monday.

The fine prolongs a difficult time for the Alphabet-owned opens new tab internet behemoth in Australia, where a court last week largely decided against it in a lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, accusing Apple and Google of blocking rival application stores in their operating systems. An earlier ruling to exempt the video-sharing website was overturned last month when Google’s YouTube was included in an Australian ban on social media sites that allow members under the age of sixteen.

The nation’s consumer watchdog said Monday that Google had reached agreements with Telstra, opens new tab, and Optus regarding anti-competitive partnerships with Australian telcos. Under these agreements, the tech giant shared with them the advertising revenue from Google Search on Android devices from late 2019 to early 2021.
Along with agreeing to the penalties, Google acknowledged that the arrangement significantly impacted competition from other search engines and has since stopped entering into similar agreements, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

“Today’s outcome … created the potential for millions of Australians to have greater search choice in the future, and for competing search providers to gain meaningful exposure to Australian consumers,” ACCC Chair Gina-Cass Gottlieb said.

The Federal Court has received a joint submission from Google and the ACCC requesting that Google pay the A$55 million punishment. The ACCC stated that although the court still has to determine if the penalty is reasonable, the regulator’s and Google’s cooperation has prevented protracted legal proceedings.

A Google spokesperson said the company was pleased to resolve the ACCC’s concerns which involved “provisions that haven’t been in our commercial agreements for some time”.

“We are committed to providing Android device makers more flexibility to pre-load browsers and search apps, while preserving the offerings and features that help them innovate, compete with Apple, and keep costs low,” the spokesperson added.