Google Combats EU Antitrust Attacks On Android With Surprisingly Convincing GIFs
Google just opened up a new battleground with GIFs. The European Union is attempting to din the global corporation for supposed anti-competitive Android bundle policies. Google has responded not only in the written form, but with a handful of surprisingly convincing GIFs.
Google has been accused of paying OEMs to exclusively pre-install the Google search engine on smartphones. The EU wants to prevent the company from pressuring smartphone makers if it prevents them from offering competing operating systems based on Android. The “statement of object” in the complaint document stated that the EU plans to force Google to stop payments and discounts to smartphone makers who pre-install Google’s Play Store with Google Search. The document also noted that Google “cannot punish or threaten” companies that do not comply with its wants.
The company has offered a four-part rebuttal alongside their new GIFs. First, Google insists that the European Commission’s case is based on the idea that Google’s Android does not compete with Apple’s iOS. Second, Google argues that the Commission underestimates the importance of developers and the challenges that they face. Google Senior Vice President and General Counsel remarked, “Developers — and there were at least 1.3 million of them in Europe in 2015 — depend on a stable and consistent framework to do their work...To manage this challenge, we work with hardware makers to establish a minimum level of compatibility among Android devices.”
Third, Google contends that it do not force manufacturers to preload any of Google apps on an Android phone. It does offer a suite of apps, but they are not required. Apple and Microsoft offer similar services. Google also insists that “There’s also plenty of evidence that consumers can easily choose which apps they want — something the Commission has recognized in other investigations.”
Last but not least, Google argued that its methods allows it to give suites of apps for free instead of charging upfront licensing fees. Google insists that Android, “By any measure, it is the most open, flexible, and differentiated of the mobile computing platforms.”
The GIFs that accompany these arguments are part of a debate that was formalized this past April, but has been going since at least 2011. The company could potentially be fined between $3.4 billion and $7.4 billion, or one-tenth of their revenue.
Google has been accused of paying OEMs to exclusively pre-install the Google search engine on smartphones. The EU wants to prevent the company from pressuring smartphone makers if it prevents them from offering competing operating systems based on Android. The “statement of object” in the complaint document stated that the EU plans to force Google to stop payments and discounts to smartphone makers who pre-install Google’s Play Store with Google Search. The document also noted that Google “cannot punish or threaten” companies that do not comply with its wants.
The company has offered a four-part rebuttal alongside their new GIFs. First, Google insists that the European Commission’s case is based on the idea that Google’s Android does not compete with Apple’s iOS. Second, Google argues that the Commission underestimates the importance of developers and the challenges that they face. Google Senior Vice President and General Counsel remarked, “Developers — and there were at least 1.3 million of them in Europe in 2015 — depend on a stable and consistent framework to do their work...To manage this challenge, we work with hardware makers to establish a minimum level of compatibility among Android devices.”
Third, Google contends that it do not force manufacturers to preload any of Google apps on an Android phone. It does offer a suite of apps, but they are not required. Apple and Microsoft offer similar services. Google also insists that “There’s also plenty of evidence that consumers can easily choose which apps they want — something the Commission has recognized in other investigations.”
Last but not least, Google argued that its methods allows it to give suites of apps for free instead of charging upfront licensing fees. Google insists that Android, “By any measure, it is the most open, flexible, and differentiated of the mobile computing platforms.”
The GIFs that accompany these arguments are part of a debate that was formalized this past April, but has been going since at least 2011. The company could potentially be fined between $3.4 billion and $7.4 billion, or one-tenth of their revenue.
