Google Facing Anti-Trust Investigations Again; This Time in Korea for Lack of Search Options on Android
Uh-oh. Google’s looking at yet another anti-trust lawsuit. We’ve all been here before so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. There are concerns about their lack of search options in Android. As it stands, there is no easy way for a user to change which search engine they want to use whenever they hit that shiny search button on their phones.
Carriers and OEMs can customize this – we’ve seen Verizon do it with Bing and AT&T do it with Yahoo – but users (at least those not savvy enough to root their devices and customize their search button) can’t take any action. Daum – South Korea’s leading search provider – is the outlet who called for the investigation. Google refuted their claims, of course, what what I outlined above:
“Android is an open platform, and carrier partners are free to decide which applications and services to include on their Android phones,” the company said. “But we absolutely do not require carriers or manufacturers to include Google Search on Android-powered devices.”
I wouldn’t worry about this one too much, folks. Google’s tried and true in legal battles and I can’t imagine Daum’s complaints would put even a slight dent in Google’s strategy. [via ATD]