Google’s European fine is a flashback to Microsoft’s ugly antitrust battle

Today, the European Commission handed down a $5 billion fine to Google for anti-competitive behavior, the single biggest antitrust ruling the company has ever faced. The commission's central complaint is that by requiring Chrome and Google search as default services on any device using the Google Play Store, Android is engaging in anti-competitive behavior. As part of the ruling, Google must stop forcing Chrome and Google search on manufacturers, and stop any efforts to block forked versions of Android. We still don't know how Google will respond to the ruling — particularly whether it will end up directly charging phone makers for Android licenses — but it's clearly a major blow to Google and the strategic value of Android as a...

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