Google's voice assistant may be subject to new EU antitrust investigation
The company could face financial penalties of $18 billion
Google may be facing a renewed EU antitrust probe over the dominance of its voice assistant on Android devices.
Sam Wilkin, managing editor of regulatory news service MLex, tweeted that EU Commission is examining whether the tech giant is forcing device makers to use Google Assistant as the default voice assistant on Android devices.
In June, the EU Commission said its inquiry into connected devices revealed that many device makers were concerned over certain exclusivity and tying practices in the industry, related to voice assistants.
Some of those who voiced concerns told the EU Commission that they were being prevented from installing a second voice assistant on a device.
According to Reuters, the European Commission is asking makers to provide evidence to support their claims that they are being forced to pre-install Google Assistant.
In particular, the regulator wants to know whether Google is using strategies like its Android certification process to force a Google Assistant pre-install and it position as the default voice assistant. The Commission will also look into whether Google is stifling competition by prohibiting smart device manufactures from installing other voice assistants.
If Google is found guilty, it could face financial penalties of up to 10 per cent of its global turnover (which would be about $18 billion if taken last year).
The company told Reuters that the Android platform provides more choice to users and device makers than any other mobile platform.
'Manufacturers can choose which voice assistants to install on their devices and users can also choose which assistants to use and install,' the company said.
Presently, the voice assistant market has only three main players: Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant.
Andrea Pomana, partner at law firm Beiten Burkhardt, told Reuters that voice assistants are likely to become the next big battleground between the antitrust regulators and US technology firms, considering the amount of user data they generate.
"Google would do well to review its business practices with its partners, as the Commission, still yearning for the Digital Markets Act, might be losing its patience," she added.
It is not unusual for Google to face investigations, inquiries, and even lawsuits over business practices, especially when it comes to anti-competitive behaviour.
In 2017, the EU's competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager hit the firm with a €2.4 billion fine over claims that it had unfairly downranked shopping search services from appearing in search results, in order to boost traffic to its own Google Shopping service.
A year later, the company faced a €4.3 billion fine over faulty licensing terms for the Android operating system.
In 2019, the EU imposed another fine of €1.5 billion for mistreating publishers through Google's AdSense tool.
About two months ago, the search giant agreed to pay a €220 million fine as part of an antitrust settlement with France's antitrust watchdog, and to make changes to some of its ad services.
Germany's Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) is also investigating Google over its alleged use of anti-competitive practices.
In May, the regulator said that it would carry out the investigation based on new competition rules which came into effect earlier this year, giving the regulator more powers to legislate against big tech firms.