Since Google put its search engine as default on Android, the company is getting sued

May 2, 2014 08:15 GMT  ·  By

Google is being slammed with yet a new antitrust lawsuit in which it is being accused of maintaining an illegal monopoly on Internet and mobile search.

According to CNET, the case has been filed in the US District Court of Northern Carolina. Google is being accused of doing its best to gain control over the Internet after it bought the Android mobile operating system.

More specifically, the secret agreements that Google has with manufacturers grant the company monopoly.

What the case dubs as “secret” agreements aren’t exactly so, since Google didn’t hide the fact that it signed “Mobile Application Distribution Agreements” (MADAs) with all Android vendors.

MADAs basically allow manufacturers to load Google’s own suit of apps on Android devices, which actually makes sense since the Internet giant should be the one to know best how to create tools that fit perfectly with Android.

Furthermore, the lawsuit says that the claims are supported even more by the fact that Google has agreed to provide funding, tech support, and assistance in case of lawsuits for these companies.

This last part has actually become obvious when Google revealed that it has offered to defend and help Samsung financially in a lawsuit against Apple since the devices in question actually use Google’s Android mobile OS.

The complaint claims that Google’s secret agreements place restraints on trade designed to maintain its control of Internet and mobile search by setting Google as the default search engine on devices.

The lawsuit states that most consumers don’t know how to switch to another search engine, nor will they go through the trouble of doing this. Since Google has surely figured this out already, the deals it signs with manufacturers gives the company the upper hand in the situation.

It should be mentioned, however, that since these users don’t know how to switch the search engine, they probably wouldn’t know how to set one up on their own either, which means that they have to start with a default option. Since this is Google’s OS, it seems a little bit absurd to expect for Bing to be the default option.

Furthermore, Microsoft set Bing as the default search engine for Windows Phones, indicating that it was only natural for the original company to choose its own services as default options for their own products.

Even so, changing the default search engine is extremely easy and only requires the user to open the browser, visit the settings area, go to the search engine area and pick an alternative.

Google has defended itself, issuing a statement in which it says that anyone can use Android without Google and anyone can use Google without Android. “Since Android’s introduction, greater competition in smartphones has given consumers more choices at lower prices,” the company said.