Japanese watchdog probes Google for possible anti-monopoly law breach in web search

Japan's competition watchdog said on Monday (Oct 23) that it was investigating Google for a possible breach of antimonopoly laws in web search services. According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the Japan Fair Trade Commission said it was probing whether Google violated Japan's Antimonopoly Act by returning part of its revenue to Android smartphone makers on the condition that they do not install rival search engines.

A JFTC official told reporters that the commission was also investigating Google's practice of making Android phone makers install its "Google Search" and "Google Chrome" browser applications with the "Google Play" app.

The official said that there was suspicion that with these steps, Google was excluding competitors' business activity and restricting its business partners' activity in the search services market. The issue was not that the American tech giant's service was widely used, it was about fair competition.

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Japan has joined European authorities and other major economies in launching an investigation against Google. In January, the United States sued the tech giant for monopolising digital advertising technologies.

"Over the past 15 years, Google has engaged in a course of anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct that consisted of neutralizing or eliminating ad tech competitors through acquisitions; wielding its dominance across digital advertising markets to force more publishers and advertisers to use its products; and thwarting the ability to use competing products," the Justice Department said in a statement.

"In doing so, Google cemented its dominance in tools relied on by website publishers and online advertisers, as well as the digital advertising exchange that runs ad auctions," it added.

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