ČRo Plus | According to the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Google should be fined for abusing its dominant position on the market

The fine for Google, amounting to the equivalent of 100 billion Czech crowns, was at the time — and still remains — the highest fine ever imposed by the European Commission for abuse of a dominant market position. Specifically, it was for requiring mobile phone manufacturers using the Android platform to pre-install the Google search engine and browser on devices purchased by users as a condition for obtaining the license.

Not only Google, but also other American companies operate differently in the EU compared to the rest of the world — primarily due to much stricter consumer protection rules. Among other things, Google now requires explicit user consent for the use of certain services, making pre-installation without user approval a thing of the past. Users also receive significantly more information and have more choices when it comes to other services and updates. However, this too faces criticism — namely, that it encourages major developers to launch new technologies elsewhere in the world, where regulations are less demanding, and only later in Europe.

You can listen to the full interview here.