Switzerland\u2019s competition regulator opened a preliminary investigation into Google\u2019s removal of Android\u2019s search-engine Choice Screen.Alphabet shares were down 1.3% at US$352.51 before regular U.S. trading began.The inquiry will assess whether Google\u2019s default-search practice indicates an unlawful restriction of competition under Swiss law.<\/p>\n
Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) faces a Swiss preliminary investigation after Google removed Android\u2019s Choice Screen in a market where it holds an estimated 82% search share.<\/p>\n
The feature remains available in the European Economic Area but was withdrawn in Switzerland, leaving Google Search as the default during initial Android setup.<\/p>\n
Google said it was aware of the investigation and would cooperate fully with the Swiss authority to address its questions.<\/p>\n
COMCO said removing the option could reduce rival search engines\u2019 visibility, reinforce entry barriers and create unequal treatment between Swiss and EEA users.<\/p>\n
Following the announcement, Alphabet’s share price was down 1.3% at $352.51 before regular trading began.<\/p>\n
The investigation follows a July 2 European court ruling that upheld a \u20ac4.1 billion fine involving Google\u2019s Android practices and restrictions on competitors.<\/p>\n
The UK competition regulator also introduced search-service conduct requirements in June covering transparency and competitive access on Google\u2019s platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Switzerland\u2019s competition regulator opened a preliminary investigation into Google\u2019s removal of Android\u2019s search-engine Choice Screen.Alphabet shares were down…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[8856,50864,50809,50865,50868,10613,50867,50862,50861,41,50866,50863,17],"class_list":["post-103429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-alphabet","tag-android-choice-screen","tag-comco","tag-default-search-engine","tag-digital-competition","tag-google","tag-google-search-market-share","tag-nasdaq-goog","tag-nasdaq-googl","tag-swiss","tag-swiss-cartel-act","tag-swiss-competition-investigation","tag-switzerland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116920198540140295","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}