Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      MVNO boom is reshaping South Africa’s mobile market

      12 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      South African law is failing gig-economy workers

      12 June 2025

      MultiChoice’s TV empire shrinks – but its ‘side hustles’ are holding strong

      12 June 2025

      MultiChoice is bleeding subscribers

      11 June 2025
    • World

      Qualcomm shows off new chip for AI smart glasses

      11 June 2025

      Trump tariffs to dim 2025 smartphone shipments

      4 June 2025

      Shrimp Jesus and the AI ad invasion

      4 June 2025

      Apple slams EU rules as ‘flawed and costly’ in major legal pushback

      2 June 2025

      Mark Zuckerberg has finally found a use for his metaverse

      30 May 2025
    • In-depth

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025

      South Africa unveils big state digital reform programme

      12 May 2025

      Is this the end of Google Search as we know it?

      12 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025

      TCS | Sentiv, and the story behind the buyout of Altron Nexus

      3 June 2025

      TCS | Signal restored: Unpacking the Blue Label and Cell C turnaround

      28 May 2025
    • Opinion

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025

      Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

      29 May 2025

      Solar panic? The truth about SSEG, fines and municipal rules

      14 April 2025

      Data protection must be crypto industry’s top priority

      9 April 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » In-depth » In hounding Google, the EU has shot itself in the foot

    In hounding Google, the EU has shot itself in the foot

    By Agency Staff17 October 2018
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    You have to hand it to Europe’s regulators. They rarely miss a chance to antagonise an American tech company, no matter what the cost to their own people.

    In a blog post on Tuesday, Google announced that it will start charging phone makers that want to pre-install some of its apps and services for devices sold in Europe. This was the entirely predictable result of an antitrust ruling by the European Commission in July, in which it imposed a record US$5-billion fine on Google and demanded that it shape up without specifying exactly how.

    What the commission objected to was an arrangement Google had with smartphone makers. It offered them its Android operating system free of charge and granted them access to its Play app store so long as they pre-installed certain Google apps on their phones. Although consumers could access plenty of non-Google alternatives with a click or two, the commission felt this added exertion amounted to an improper barrier to competition.

    Europe’s regulators seem unable to believe that a company might benefit the world while also making lots of money

    In fact, the bargain had worked perfectly well for the company and consumers alike. It helped Google’s products spread around the world, boosted its user base and kept the resulting data flowing into its servers. That data, in turn, helped make its products — Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube — better and better. Consumers reaped the benefits at both ends: cheaper smartphones and free products that kept improving, as if by magic.

    Yet it wasn’t magic. Making those products required a load of investment, forethought and inventiveness. Google didn’t vanquish its competitors through malfeasance; it did so by offering products its users liked. Along the way, it showed them lots of ads (some $28-billion worth last quarter alone). By one relevant measure, consumers were just fine with this trade-off: Android now powers nearly 90% of new smartphones.

    Businesses, too, benefited. With access to a secure and open-source operating system, they built thousands of useful applications for Android phones. Because Google imposed order on the larger ecosystem — for instance, by discouraging manufacturers from offering inconsistent versions of Android — these app makers could be confident that their products would work seamlessly for a global audience, to everyone’s benefit.

    Galling

    But never mind all that. In July, the European Commission insisted (vaguely) that Google bring this arrangement to an end. So now the company will start charging a licensing fee to manufacturers that want to offer Gmail, Google Maps, the Google Play store and YouTube in Europe, thereby making phones more expensive and life more difficult for businesses. It will also let phone makers sell devices that use “forked” versions of Android in Europe, thereby degrading security and worsening inconsistencies across the ecosystem.

    It’s not the end of the world. But Europe’s alleged remedy is all the more galling for being uncomprehending: now that consumers have become so reliant on Google’s products, they’re not going to want phones that come without them. Had the commission acted a decade ago, it could at least have made a plausible if misguided argument that it was encouraging competition. Now it’s simply making things worse.

    Europe’s regulators seem unable to believe that a company might benefit the world while also making lots of money. What they fail to understand is that the biggest losers in this unending charade are the citizens they supposedly represent.  — Written by The Editors at Bloomberg, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP



    Google top
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleUber launches new safety features in SA
    Next Article Break up the mobile operators, R2K says

    Related Posts

    WeThinkCode secures R35-million Google.org grant to nurture AI talent

    10 June 2025

    Apple throws shade, not code, as it falls behind in AI

    10 June 2025

    How AI is rewriting the rules of software development

    4 June 2025
    Company News

    Building a cyber-resilient culture from the boardroom to the front lines

    12 June 2025

    How South Africa’s municipalities are finally getting smart

    12 June 2025

    Ransomware roulette: pay up or power through?

    11 June 2025
    Opinion

    Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

    2 June 2025

    South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

    2 June 2025

    Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

    29 May 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.