Commission in South Korea accuses Google of abusing its position in the Android app store

• KFTC alleges that Google has abused its dominant position in the Android app store.
• The watchdog also accuses «Project Hug» (Games/Google Velocity Program) of being a way to promote its own games by requiring that developers publish their games on Play.
• Potentially, the regulator says, this could amount to a 6% decline in relevant app-store revenue, while Google would keep its own earnings.

According to the publication Asharq Al-Awsat, The Next Web.

The anti-monopoly regulator in South Korea, the Google, an Alphabet company, has abused its dominant position in the Android app store. In response, Google said that the company has not violated any law. The commission plans to recommend corrective measures.

The Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said that through its Market Surveillance Bureau it found that Google’s app-store practices were in breach of competition rules. The bureau investigated 14,16 trillion won ($9.1 billion) worth of relevant transactions. The case is currently being reviewed.

In particular, the regulator says that Google launched “Project Hug”, a program for Games or the Google Velocity Program. Starting in 2019, Google required game developers to publish their games on its platform in order to receive benefits from its services, including Cloud, Ads and YouTube. The regulator says that this is aimed at ensuring that developers do not offer their games on competing app stores.

According to the regulator, the contract terms were structured in such a way that the financial benefits for developers were reduced if they did not publish their games on Google Play. In particular, the KFTC said it found that the company’s incentives were designed to prevent developers from using other app stores, including OneStore, in South Korea.

Google said it is working with the KFTC and that the company has not violated any law. It also said it is reviewing the findings and will respond to the KFTC’s recommendations.

Tags: Technology/Research/Computer Games