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Add Japan to the list of places that Google (GOOGL+1.23%) is finding itself playing defense.
Japan’s Fair Trade Commission issued a cease and desist order to Google on Tuesday, finding its practices to be monopolistic.
The cease and desist is the conclusion of an 18-month investigation into the Alphabet-owned search engine. The report cites Google for its product placement on Android Smartphones, pointing out that the company requires some manufacturers to preinstall Google’s browser and search engine on the home screen.
Japan’s Fair Trade Commission ordered Google to stop preinstalling the Google search engine in Android smartphones, which it said freezes out other search engines.
The report concluded that since July 2020 at the latest, Google has been “preventing search functionality of other General Search Service providers from being implemented on Specified Android Smartphones.”
Google also requires some manufacturers and a mobile-service provider to use its search tool in order to have access to share of revenue generated by ads on Google search, the report said.
Google Japan called the Fair Trade Commission’s decision “regrettable” in a statement released after Tuesday’s ruling.
In the U.S., a judge ruled last year that Google’s search engine illegally exploited its dominance to stifle competition.
University of Maryland Associate Professor of Marketing Bobby Zhou said after the U.S. ruling — which is similar to Japan’s finding — that the best way for Google to fix its problems is to end exclusive agreements with device manufacturers and browsers such as Apple (AAPL+2.21%) and Firefox to set Google as the default search option.
“Terminating these agreements would allow other search engines to compete more fairly,” Zhou said.
Google has appealed the U.S. decision. There’s no word yet on what its plans are in Japan.