Google 'abused dominant position' with Android: EU

Brussels: The European Union (EU) slapped Google with anti-trust charges yesterday over its widely-used Android mobile phone operating system, in a fresh salvo by Brussels against the Silicon Valley giant.

Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Google had used practices such as making manufacturers pre-install its search engine as the default in order to preserve its market dominance.

"The preconclusions from our investigations is that these practices breach EU competition law," Vestager said, adding that Brussels believed that "Google has abused its dominant position."

The case is the second attack by the EU against Google.

The other side
Google said it would work with the EU to show that consumers benefited from Android. "Android has helped foster a remarkable - and, importantly, sustainable - ecosystem, based on open-source software and open innovation," Kent Walker, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Google, said.