European antitrust authorities are looking into the restrictions Google imposes on Android handset makers who want access to the Google Play Store for Android apps, the Wall Street Journal reports, to determine if it has abused Android’s position as Europe’s leading smartphone operating system.
See also: Sure, Microsoft Could ‘Fork’ Android—But It Would Be A Complete Waste Of Time
Two 2011 Google business agreements published by Harvard business professor Ben Edelman, a paid consultant to Google rival Microsoft, show that the search giant required handset makers Samsung and HTC to preinstall a dozen Google applications and to make Google Search the default option on their devices in order to gain access to Google’s Android-app store.
