"You can make money without doing evil." This is one of the Google Company philosophy which makes us think about what's really going on with EU's recent lawsuit against the tech giant.
Google might change the way it does business. The European Union officials sued the tech company for 'not allowing customers to select internet browsers'. Not only that, according to The Telegraph, there are many cases of Google monopoly found to be 'forcing users' to either take it or leave it.
And here's a list of Android smartphone abuse that Google does, as summarized from European Union Press Release on April 20.
1. Smartphone manufacturers have to integrate 11 Google core applications and place them 'a swipe away' from the phone's home screen. Customers cannot delete the apps although they can disable them. The pre-loaded apps including YouTube, Google Maps, and Gmail.
2. Google requires phonemakers to install its developed search services, Google Chrome and Google Search - making them as the default. Google also give incentives to companies who make Google Search, an exclusive pre-installed system on their mobile phones.
3. Google prevents smartphone manufacturers from selling their products running on competitor's OS based on Android open source code.
The business strategy that Google has implemented does create huge revenues for the company. The Forbes published an article on Android, stating that the money fueled from the OS made up a substantial part of the total profits albeit Google's refusal to reveal the whole story on the topic. The news also stated that eMarketer estimated YouTube to contribute Google earnings up to $8.85 billion in 2013.
As for the lawsuit, the EU plans on a total fine of $7 billion that the giant company has to pay - which means 10 percent of Google's annual sales in global.
In addition to the lawsuit, European Commission also records a separate file stating Google promotes its own links over competitors' results in SERP. Losing the war means another $7 billion fine.
