For those of you old enough to remember the nineties, you may remember the antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft. That lawsuit was against Microsoft for installing Internet Explorer in all computers, which the government claimed limited the use of other browsers. It was this action that led to the demise of Netscape, which was a far better browser. Japan is coming after Google for preinstalled Chrome and Google Search in all Android devices.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has issued a cease and desist order to Google, demanding the tech company end all efforts to gain preferential treatment on Android phones, according to Engadget.
The watchdog alleges that Google required phone makers to preinstall Chrome and Google Search on Android phones — along with setting Chrome as the default browser. It also claims they had to place the icons for each app on the home screen. This arrangement came due to the tech company’s power as provider of the Google Play app ecosystem, which Android manufacturers need to install before distribution.
Japan is coming after Google
It is, also, claimed that Google agreed to give phone manufacturers a cut of the ad revenue to sweeten the deal. It is believed that this deal has been going on since July 2020, if not longer.
This isn’t anything new for people who use mobile devices. My Pixel is preinstalled with Chrome, YouTube, Google Search, and Gmail. Apple does something similar, but to a lesser degree. It comes preinstalled with Safari. However, Apple is egregious with their ad allowance.
Android does allow ad-blockers to work on non-Google browsers, like Firefox. However, Apple disables all extensions, which seems worse.
The common joke is you use the preinstalled browser to download the one you prefer. Japan has a better chance of successfully winning an antitrust lawsuit against Google than they would here. The US government could’ve launched it a long time ago, but as long as their lobbyist have deep wallets – nothing will ever get done.