Google has agreed to pay a fine of 55 million Australian dollars (about US$36 million) after Australia’s competition regulator found the company had struck unlawful agreements with two major telecommunications firms that restricted rival search engines from being installed on smartphones.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) confirmed on Monday that it launched proceedings in the Federal Court against Google’s Singapore-based Asia Pacific arm. The court will determine whether the AU$55 million penalty is appropriate.
According to the ACCC, Google entered into agreements with Telstra and Optus that ran for 15 months until March 2021. Under the deals, the telcos pre-installed only Google Search on Android phones they sold, excluding other search providers. In exchange, the companies received a share of advertising revenue generated by users of those devices.
Google acknowledged that the contracts were likely to have the effect of “substantially lessening competition,” the regulator said.
As part of the settlement, Google signed a court-enforceable undertaking committing to remove pre-installation and default search engine restrictions from its contracts with Android manufacturers and telecom providers.
In a statement, Google said: “We’re pleased to resolve the ACCC’s concerns, which involved provisions that haven’t been in our commercial agreements for some time.”
ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb welcomed the outcome, stressing that restricting competition is illegal because it reduces consumer choice and can lead to higher costs or poorer services.
“Importantly, these changes come at a time when AI search tools are revolutionising how we search for information, creating new competition,” she added.
Last year, Telstra, Optus, and TPG Telecom signed enforceable undertakings with the ACCC, pledging not to renew or enter into similar arrangements with Google that would limit search engine options for consumers.
The case highlights ongoing global scrutiny of Google’s market dominance in digital advertising and search services, as regulators push back against practices seen as anticompetitive.
