EU ready to punish Google for Android dominance

The European Union does not appreciate Google forcing OEMs to include the search giant’s apps on every Android phone. According to the Wall Street Journal, the EU is so upset that it’s preparing to file antitrust charges against Google for “abusing the dominance” of the company’s mobile platform.

The report says a formal statement by the EU will be released on Wednesday and give a complete rundown of the charges against Google. If found guilty, Google’s grip on the mobile search market could take a hit, as online advertising has apparently ballooned into a $67 billion industry for the Mountain View-based company.

Google is already embroiled in a separate regulatory battle with the EU for allegedly promoting its own shopping service in search over that of its competitors.

“For each of the formal charges issues against Android and the shopping service, the EU could impose fines as high as 10 percent of the company’s annual global revenue, which for Google would amount to fines of around $7 billion for each charge,” WSJ explained.

Google requires OEMs to preinstall 11 of the search giant’s apps without say from the customer—something the EU is very unhappy with. The charges come at a time when manufacturers have begun to dial back on preinstalling alternative apps to the ones Google forces OEMs to preinstall.

We should learn more when charges are filed on Wednesday.