“ICOMP
is confident competition authorities everywhere are catching on how Google
works. The Android strategy to lock in consumers is similar to other Alphabet
Google products under investigation: undercut competitors by dumping Android
free of charge to make it dominant, tie and bundle Google products with
Android, block the best screen space with Google apps.”
Michael
Weber, Chairman of ICOMP the Initiative for a Competitive Online Marketplace
Smartphones
and tablets have become part of the lives of most Europeans. Google dominates
this market through its ownership or control of the Android operating system as
well as a range of apps and online products. Android devices are central to
millions of EU citizens’ daily movements, their planning, and decision making.
These devices collect masses of personal data. Where you go, what you look for
online and what you are interested in is all tracked and stored. Data about
these things is only valuable in context. Google probably has more context
relevant data than any company on the planet. Android provides the platform,
Google search then tracks internet searching and browsing, and use of Google
apps follows your daily needs and captures your data. All are valuable sources
of information for advertising. It’s a very successful strategy. With a market
cap over $547 bn Google earlier this year overtook Apple as the biggest company
in the world, bar none.
Overall,
from its position of unrivalled market power, Google controls and manipulates
users’ demands. Android is a cornerstone of the Google edifice. However,
Android ceased to be a truly open source platform some time ago. Google’s
agreements with phone manufacturers mean that Google apps are always on the
home screen of Android devices, in front of the customer, straight out of the
box. Exclusivity agreements and the Android Compatibility Program is used as a
club to make phone manufacturers do what Google wants. Top positioning and display
of Google products is used to steer consumers towards Google’s own products and
services. Google’s control and manipulation of demand bolsters its position in
markets for apps and what they are used for.
In
short Google rigs the system so that Google apps, not necessarily the best apps
for consumers’ needs, are put in front of people ahead of those of its
competitors.
Commissioner
Vestager’s latest measure, to send a Statement of Objections (SO) to Google
about its Android platform, is a significant step in the long running formal
investigations. An SO cannot be dismissed as a mere preliminary matter – it is
the product of considerable investigation, and detailed analysis of large
amounts of factual evidence. An SO almost always leads to a considerable fine
and, we hope more importantly, to significant changes in the defendant’s
business practices.
The
EC’s mission is a public interest one. It is required to safeguard consumers
and make sure that markets are open and competition takes place on the merits
of the products people may need. The Commission’s step in taking formal
proceedings, by issuing a further SO, recognizes the high stakes involved at
the present time as more and more people become digitally dependent.
As
the main player in the digital world Google has embedded itself in an
increasingly interconnected EU industry. It has already extended its dominance
in online search to mobile. Absent vigilant EU competition enforcement, Google
has swiftly monopolised access to many markets and, looking forward, is on path
to monopolise an ever larger slice of the European economy.
All
sorts of devices are increasingly interconnected over the web. Smartphone and
Smart TV media and entertainment are early examples. Google News is promoted
over more popular news rivals. Google is a broadcaster and through YouTube
provides a channel that can be accessed on smart devices everywhere. It can be
expected to promote its own products in its own interests to smartphone users
over other broadcast and film content. It has recently supported the US FCC
moves to replace the set top box. Its system could well become the navigation
system for users’ decisions over their choice of programs and films on any
smart device. We currently regulate electronic program guides in the EU, in the
public interest to ensure cultural diversity and support the public service
missions of our national broadcasters. Imagine the Digital Single Market where
all national telecoms companies and broadcasters are beholden to Google’s
decisions over their visibility. At the top of the Commssion’s Digital Single
Market policy proposals are issues over geo-blocking and access to programmes,
football and films from different member states. Our cultural diversity rules
and policies about media ownership and control also need to be understood in
terms of the new digital reality.
Google’s
central position on smartphones and smart devices also allows it to affect user
choices over many other industries. The economy is shifting to industrial use
of the Internet, known as the Internet of Things. For example, Google is a
short step away from becoming central to peoples’ decisions over their choice
not only of mobile services and media and telecoms suppliers, but of payments
systems and products controlled by, accessed from and bought through smart
devices. This may affect our choices for everyday essentials in addition to
telecoms, such as groceries and energy, in fact anything where the smart device
is the interface to the web.
The
Commission has recognised that a truly Digital Single Market is at the heart of
the European economy. A healthy economy needs a healthy heart. This means one
that functions effectively for users, and industry, alike. We believe that
Google is close to the heart of the economy and restricts its proper
functioning. The entire system needs to be robust and the body of the economy
needs to be competitive. For this to happen, Google needs to operate openly,
transparently and in a non discriminatory way, in the wider public interest.
ICOMP’s
members represent a wide range of interests in the digital sphere, and seeks to
promote a healthy and vibrant EU economy. Our membership not only welcomes this
SO but the Commission’s on-going investigation and potential extension of the
Statement of Objections in the context of the EU economy and its policies to
ensure its effective functioning in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment