Google fined $36 million in Australia, admits to deals that ‘substantially’ impacted competition

Google has agreed to pay a fine of $35.8 million in Australia amidst anti-competitive allegations, reports Reuters. The tech giant, as per the report, was accused by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) of paying the country’s two largest telcos to pre-install its search application on Android smartphones, excluding rival search engines. Admitting that the arrangement “had a substantial impact on competition”, Google agreed to pay a 55 million Australian dollar ($36 million) fine as stated above.

The Reuters report quotes ACCC Chair Gina-Cass Gottlieb who said “Today’s outcome … created the potential for millions of Australians to have greater search choice in the future, and for competing search providers to gain meaningful exposure to Australian consumers”.