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South Korea: Android investigation leads to Google office inspections

By  |  July 21, 2016

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission said it conducted an investigation into Google Inc. over allegedly forcing smartphone makers to use Android operating system in their handsets.

In 2013, after two years of investigation, the FTC acquitted Google of harming competition by pressuring mobile phone makers to preload its search engine when offering Android to those producers.

The FTC had reviewed the case and eventually came to the conclusion to dismiss the charges, saying that Google’s preload requirement does not restrict competition as the market share remains approximately 10 percent.

Industry sources said the FTC returned to looking into the allegations again after the European Union brought similar charges against Google for anticompetitive behaviors earlier this year.

Full Content: Yonhap

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