Cease-and-Desist Order on Google

Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) issued a cease-and-desist order against Google LLC pursuant to the provisions of the Antimonopoly Act. The JFTC found that Google demanded the distributors of mobile phone to preinstall applications of Google and it violated Article 19 of the act that prohibits unfair trade act. It is the first time for JFTC to issue a cease-and-desist order to one of four tech giants called GAFA.

According to the announcement of JFTC, Google had contract with six major distributors of Android mobile phone to preinstall Google Search and place its widget and icon on the default home screen. It also required them to preinstall Google Chrome, place its icon on the default home screen, and not to change the setting of Google Chrome in which Google LLC’s search functionality is selected.

 

It has been continued at earliest from July 2020. Those six distributors occupy about eighty percent of share in the market in Japan.

 

Google also had contracts with some clients, in which it required to exclude other general search service providers as the condition to share a part of revenue of Google. The JFTC affirmed that Google had possibly excluded other competitors from search engine market and disturbed fair competitions, recognizing the activity as ”trading on restrictive terms.”

 

JFTC has already presented a draft of its cease-and-desist order last December and accumulated hearings from Google. The order demanded Google repealing those contracts and some measures not to repeat the same contract. For the first time in its cease-and-desist order, JFTC demanded Google to appoint independent third party for monitoring and reporting about implementation of the measures not to repeat for five years.

 

Google called the move “regrettable” in their blog. “These arbitral contracts do not disturb competition or reduce options of consumers. They rather establish an important basis for supporting eco-mobile system in Japan,” argues the statement. The search engine giant argues that the smartphone makers choose Google for themselves as their best choice, based on their notion that Google offers best service. Google, however, insisted to seriously consider the order.

 

Google submitted a commitment plan to JFTC on its restriction of advertisement connected to search engine of Yahoo in 2024. Including search engine in smart phone, advertisement and charging in application, JFTC has made a comprehensive investigation against Google. The government of Japan hopes to establish a legislation for fair competition in the market of smartphone by the end of this year. It can be said as an effort of the government to restore fair trade in the technology which has become an indispensable infrastructure of the people.

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