European Union Receives Antitrust Complaint About Android
FairSearch says Google is using Android as a 'Trojan Horse' to deceive partners.
Google could be in hot water with the European Union's antitrust body over its Android operating system. Antitrust regulators in Europe this week received an official complaint regarding Google and its mobile OS from FairSearch Europe. FairSearch is a group of businesses and organizations that promotes a level playing field when it comes to competition in online and mobile search. Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, TripAdvisor, Kayak and Hotwire are all members of FairSearch. Today, the European arm of this organization released a statement detailing a complaint it made about Google to the European Union.
FairSearch argues that Google is using "deceptive conduct" to lockout the competition in the mobile search market. With 70 percent of the smartphone OS market, Google commands 96 percent of the mobile search advertising market. Except, according to FairSearch, the search giant isn't playing fair. FairSearch's complaint says that though Google gives Android to device makers for free, phone makers that want apps like Maps, or YouTube are forced to 'pre-load an entire suite of Google mobile services and to give them prominent default placement on the phone.' FairSearch says this puts other providers at a disadvantage and puts Android in control of consumer data on the majority of today's smartphones.
"Google is using its Android mobile operating system as a 'Trojan Horse' to deceive partners, monopolize the mobile marketplace, and control consumer data," said Thomas Vinje on behalf of the FairSearch coalition. "We are asking the Commission to move quickly and decisively to protect competition and innovation in this critical market. Failure to act will only embolden Google to repeat its desktop abuses of dominance as consumers increasingly turn to a mobile platform dominated by Google’s Android operating system."
The EU is already investigating Google's practices in the search market. More than likely, Google doesn't want another antitrust investigation on its hands. However, the New York Times spoke to EU antitrust chief, Joaquín Almunia, who says the EU has been 'examining' Android independent of the desktop search inquiry. With this formal complaint from FairSearch, NYT reports that the EU will have to make a decision on whether or not it wants to pursue the case or drop it altogether.

Actually they require neither. If you want to put GApps on your device you have to have the device sent for approval. Then when you get approval you can stick them wherever you'd like. Just look at what Verizon does, most of the GApps are buried in menus and they turn on their own services by default.
Sounds like MS and Nokia are unhappy they can't compete with inferior products.
Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, TripAdvisor, Kayak and Hotwire, let me touch on those. Google's search for Microsoft knowledgebase articles is more effective than on Microsoft's actual webiste. I can find more information about specs, firmware, or troubleshooting for Nokia on Google than on any other search engine, or on Nokia's webiste. Same goes for the others. There is more helpful information to be found on all of Oracle's resources by using Google than by searching on Oracles page.
If they want to complain, they should make products that can actually compete instead of taking away from something that the consumer is benefiting from immensely. Google maps couldn't be possible without the implementation of their location services / search technology and one of the biggest companies in the world (*cough* Apple *cough*) couldn't do any better even with their massive amount of net worth and cashflow.
Wake up EU, better products = more consumers buy them = competition needs to try harder. The EU needs to stop trying to regulate the market based on crappy products that consumers aren't using and aren't buying because they are lower quality and are less functional. Deal with it.
With 1-3% of the market, they are safe doing it. I dislike microsoft and I pity Nokia, but...
So company A, that has no interest in the market B, invests money and effectively kills competition there (go compete with something that is free and funded by multi-billion company) TO PUSH its search engine. How could that be right?
Oh, and every time I do search with google, it keeps hinting me to upgrade my browser to chrome. Should we allow monopolists to push whatever they want like that?