The German Federal Anti-Cartel Office announced on Tuesday (21) that it has opened an investigation into the activities of Google Germany and its parent company Alphabet in that country. Survey concerns “possible anti-competitive restrictions” It has been adopted by the Google Maps platform.
What the Bundeskartellamt is looking for are indications that Big Tech’s American search and visualization service may be “restricting the combination of its own mapping services with third-party mapping services,” according to its boss, Andreas Mundt. Google Maps prevents your location, search and Street View data from being included by other apps.
According to Mandt, this is Reuters, “Allowing Google to further expand its power position in relation to certain map services”. According to the lawsuit, users have to resort to services exclusively provided by the giant Mountain View, clearly constituting an anti-competitive application.
What did Google say?
A Google spokesperson said the company is willing to work with German regulators and is ready to answer any questions about its operations in the country.
The investigation is taking place in light of new regulations that came into force last year and empower the regulatory agency. Power to prohibit actions of companies with a weight in the market that may harm free competition.
In this sense, the German agency used the new law to launch parallel investigations into Google’s terms and conditions of data processing and even the news service Google News Showcase, which promises to help newspaper companies strengthen their relationship with readers.
Giants Amazon and Facebook are also under investigation in Germany.
Source: Tec Mundo
