Google Hit With Antitrust Lawsuit Over Default Search on Android Phones

Posted by Soulskill on Friday May 2, 2014 @02:15AM from the same-problems,-different-decade dept.

itwbennett writes: "A class-action lawsuit filed Thursday (PDF) accuses Google of strong-arming device manufacturers into making its search engine the default on Android devices, driving up the cost of those devices and hurting consumers. The suit does not argue that device manufacturers entered Mobile Application Distribution Agreements involuntarily, but that the market power of Google compels them to. 'Because consumers want access to Google's products, and due to Google's power in the U.S. market for general handheld search, Google has unrivaled market power over smartphone and tablet manufacturers,' says the suit."

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Re:I remember this with M$ by NecroPuppy · 2014-05-02 02:53 · Score: 5, Funny

How do you change the default search functionality in Android?
Have you tried Googling for that information? :)

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Re:Oh the humanity! by Noah+Haders · 2014-05-02 03:40 · Score: 5, Informative

no, but it's tied in through business contracts as part of the handset alliance, which is the exact point of this suit.