Google Faces Antitrust Investigation From EU

Google is in hot water with the European Union, as a number of companies ask the governing body to act on its antitrust investigation before the company can "monopolize the mobile marketplace and control consumer data," according to Fairsearch, a organization that represents Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, and several other search engines.

The European Union has been investigating Google since 2010, believing that the company violates several antitrust laws on the continent. A similar investigation in the United States revealed no such laws were broken.

Fairsearch has officially complained to the European Union, however, after it was reported that Google had 96% of the market in mobile search advertising, and 70% of all smartphones shipped at the end of 2012 in Europe were running Android, Google's operating system. Fairsearch also accused Google of requiring makers of Android smartphones to preload Google mobile services in prominent areas of display on those devices, in exchange for being able to use other popular apps such as Youtube or Google maps.

"This disadvantages other providers, and puts Google's Android in control of consumer data on a majority of smartphones shipped today," says Fairsearch in their statement.

Google has said in the past that they would cooperate with the European Union and the European Competition Commission to rectify any violations, but no update on what, if any, steps Google has taken to level the playing field. If nothing is done, Google could face some serious legal troubles.

Google is also facing pressure from several European countries such as Germany and France over the company's efforts to combine data from multiple services, which may violate privacy laws in those countries. It is unclear if or when Google may face the consequences for these alleged allegations, so curious readers will have to watch out for more information as the story develops.

Thanks to: CNN