South Korea accuses Google of abusing Android app market dominance
The Korea Fair Trade Commission's (KFTC) Market Surveillance Bureau found Google's alleged abuse of market dominance in the Android app marketplace affected $9.1 billion in revenue
 "South Korea accuses Google of abusing Android app market dominance")
South Korea's antitrust regulator alleged on Wednesday that Alphabet's Google abused its dominant position in the Android app marketplace to hinder competition and will recommend corrective measures and a financial penalty.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission's (KFTC) Market Surveillance Bureau found Google's alleged abuse of market dominance in the Android app marketplace affected 14.16 trillion won ($9.1 billion) in revenue, the bureau said in a media briefing where it released its examiner's report on the matter.
From July 2019 to March 2026, Google's Games/Google Velocity Program, which it internally called "Project Hug", offered domestic and overseas game developers financial support for using Google services such as Cloud, Ads and YouTube, provided that they launched games on Google's app store on terms at least as favourable as rival app marketplaces, the report said.
The contracts were also structured so that Google's financial support increased progressively as developers generated more revenue through Google Play, creating stronger incentives to prioritise Google's marketplace.
The programme significantly reduced developers' incentives to distribute games through competing app stores, including South Korea's OneStore, blocking rivals' business activities and forcing developers into de facto exclusive dealing with Google, according to the report.
"Google Play competes fairly with other app stores and delivers numerous benefits to developers and consumers in Korea. We have cooperated diligently with the KFTC's investigation, and we will continue to show the Commissioners that there has been no violation of the law," Google said in a statement to Reuters.
If the commission ultimately concludes that Google abused its market dominance, it may impose a fine of up to 6% of the relevant affected revenue of $9.1 billion.
Google has eight weeks from receiving the examiner's report to submit a written response and review the evidence. The bureau said it plans to convene the full commission and issue a final ruling promptly once Google's due process rights have been fully observed.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)