Google is unbundling Android apps: all the news about the EU’s antitrust ruling – The Verge

Bing loses out to DuckDuckGo in Google’s new Android search engine ballot

2020-01-09T06:39:38-05:00

Google has announced the alternative search engines it will show to new Android users in the EU, with DuckDuckGo the most frequently offered choice and Bing tied for last place.

EU citizens setting up Android devices from March 1 will be given a choice of four search engines to use as their default, including Google. Whichever provider they chose will become the default for searches made in Chrome and through Android's home screen search box. A dedicated app for that provider will also be installed on their device.

The "choice screen" is being introduced by Google following an antitrust ruling from the European Union last March. Google was …

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Google will give Android users a choice of browser and search engine in Europe

2019-03-20T02:55:52-04:00

Google has announced that it will start asking European Android users which browser and search engine they would prefer to use on their devices, following regulatory action against the company for the way it bundles software in its mobile operating system. Last year Google was fined a record $5 billion by EU regulators for violating antitrust laws and was ordered to stop "illegally tying" Chrome and its search app to Android.

Google's initial response was to start charging manufacturers licensing fees for the Play Store and other apps while offering the option to include Chrome and the Google search app in the overall package for free. Now, …

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Alphabet’s ad business is booming, but Google controversies continue to pile up

2018-10-25T16:38:30-04:00

As expected, Alphabet's core ad business continues to grow at a remarkable pace, with the company's third quarter earnings announcement coming in well over Wall Street analysts' expectations on profit, although slightly under sales estimates for the quarter. The company posted revenue of $33.7 billion for the quarter, up 21 percent year over year, with a profit of $9.2 billion, or earnings per share of $13.02.

Much of this growth comes from its Google subsidiary's ad business - ad revenue accounted for 86 percent of all revenue this past quarter. But Google continues to invest heavily in its cloud division to compete with Amazon's AWS divis …

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Google could finally face serious competition for Android

2018-10-18T07:00:02-04:00

The fact alone that Google will start charging in Europe for what one could fairly call "parts of" Android is in itself huge news. The change, announced Tuesday as a result of a European Commission lawsuit, is a major shift in Google's business model and has the potential to loosen the company's grip on the search and browser market. It is a big deal.

But of all the changes that this new licensing model could bring, simply charging licensees might not be the biggest. The biggest detail could end up being that Google's phone and tablet partners - like Samsung, LG, and Motorola - can now offer Android-based phones in Europe without any Google …

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Want to understand the future of Android in Europe? Look at China

2018-10-17T15:50:59-04:00

A busy street in Guangzhou. | Photo by Shannon Liao / The Verge

By the end of the month, Google will charge a licensing fee in Europe for the Play Store and apps like YouTube and Gmail in order to comply with the European Commission's antitrust ruling. Device makers will soon have to decide whether using Google services is worth the fees, while Android as an operating system will remain free to use. With these new conditions, the future of Android in Europe could dramatically transform, becoming a pared-down version that retains the OS but offers fragmented alternatives to what were once cornerstone Google services.

So what would that look like? The clearest example to point to is in China where Google …

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Google will start charging Android device makers a fee for using its apps in Europe

2018-10-16T13:28:50-04:00

Google is changing the way it licenses its suite of Android apps in Europe, leading the company to charge a licensing fee for the Play Store and other Google apps for the first time.

The changes come in response to a July ruling by the European Commission, which fined the company $5 billion for antitrust violations and ordered it to stop "illegally tying" Chrome and search apps to Android.

Google hasn't historically charged for Android and its apps because of the revenue brought in through Chrome and search. But splitting them up changes the equation, so companies will now find themselves paying for things - like the Play Store - that we g …

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Europe’s giant Google fine is too little, too late

2018-07-19T08:48:54-04:00

Google was hit with a $5 billion fine from the European Commission over Android app bundling yesterday. While the fine is the biggest the EU has ever levied against a single company, it's the changes to Android that Google now has to make that are far more significant. But they're probably too little, too late.

Google will now be forced to unbundle its Chrome browser and Google search apps from Android, meaning phone makers won't have to ship Android phones with these apps preinstalled. Additionally, phone makers will be able to fork the open-source version of Android and still be allowed to also manufacture devices with Google's Android so …

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Six questions you were afraid to ask about Google’s EU antitrust case

2018-07-19T08:12:02-04:00

Google has been hit with a massive $5 billion fine by the EU this week for Android antitrust violations, with the European Commission claiming that Google has been taking advantage of Android to impose its own services - Google search, Chrome, and the Play Store - upon consumers and device makers.

It's a confusing case, so I've taken a few minutes to try to break things down here and answer some of the bigger questions about what's going on. It might stir memories of Microsoft's ugly antitrust battle with the US government but there are some differences between the two. Here's what's going on with Google and the EU.

1. What exactly did Goo …

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Google warns Android might not remain free because of EU decision

2018-07-18T08:54:45-04:00

The EU's decision to force Google to unbundle its Chrome and search apps from Android may have some implications for the future of Android's free business model. In a blog post defending Google's decision to bundle search and Chrome apps on Android, Google CEO Sundar Pichai outlines the company's response to the EU's $5 billion fine. Pichai highlights the fact a typical Android user will "install around 50 apps themselves" and can easily remove preinstalled apps. But if Google is prevented from bundling its own apps, that will upset the Android ecosystem.

"If phone makers and mobile network operators couldn't include our apps on their wide …

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Google fined a record $5 billion by the EU for Android antitrust violations

2018-07-18T07:02:50-04:00

Google has been hit with a record-breaking €4.3 billion ($5 billion) fine by EU regulators for breaking antitrust laws. The European Commission says Google has abused its Android market dominance in three key areas. Google has been bundling its search engine and Chrome apps into the operating system. Google has also blocked phone makers from creating devices that run forked versions of Android, and it "made payments to certain large manufacturers and mobile network operators" to exclusively bundle the Google search app on handsets.

The European Commission now wants Google to bring its "illegal conduct to an end in an effective manner within …

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