Japan Investigates Google for Antitrust Violations in Search Market

The "search giant" Google is now facing antitrust investigations by competition authorities in Japan, following similar probes in the United States and Europe.

On the 23rd (local time), Bloomberg reported that the Japan Fair Trade Commission has launched an official investigation into whether Google violated competition regulations in the search market.

The report, citing local media such as the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, stated that the investigation will examine whether Google exerted unfair pressure on smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Google's search engine as the default app, and whether it obstructed competitor search engine apps from entering the market, focusing on abuse of market dominance.

This move is seen as an effort to check Google's dominance, as it holds over 70% market share in Japan's overall search market. The Japan Fair Trade Commission believes Google has committed various illegal acts to maintain its monopolistic position in the market.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The report noted, "The investigation by Japanese authorities is an extension of the antitrust lawsuits currently underway against Google in the United States." Google has faced lawsuits and fines worldwide, including in the US and Europe, for antitrust violations.

In the United States, a trial is ongoing to determine whether Google violated antitrust laws in the search market. Earlier this month, at a hearing held in the Washington DC federal court, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft (MS), a competitor, testified as a witness, and Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, is scheduled to appear at the next hearing.

Previously, in 2018, the European Union (EU) Commission ordered Google to pay a fine of 4.34 billion euros, ruling that Google abused its dominant market position in the smartphone operating system (OS) Android by unfairly requiring smartphone manufacturers to pre-install its search engine app by default.

In June, the EU issued a review report stating that Google has exercised overwhelming market dominance through its digital advertising platform "Ad Exchange," recommending that Google divest part of its digital advertising business. The EU Commission stated, "We have not formally requested Google to divest yet," but indicated that depending on the results of further investigations, it may request Google to divest part of its advertising business.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.