On May 13th, the Italian antitrust regulator said on Thursday that it had imposed a 102 million euro fine on Google on the grounds that its Android mobile operating system and its app store, Google Play, had abused its dominant market position.

The Italian regulator said in a statement: “Google has a dominant market position through Android and the app store Google Play, which allows it to control the impact of app developers on end users.” According to statistics, nearly three-quarters of the Italians use smartphones running Android.

The regulator also stated that Google does not allow JuicePass, an electric car service application of Enel X, an energy technology company under the Italian national power company Enel, to run on Android Auto (car interconnection platform), unfairly restricting its use and favoring the Google Maps application.

The Italian regulator said that Google has not allowed Enel X to run its applications on Android Auto for two years, which may damage Enel X's ability to build a user base. The agency added: "Google's controversial behavior may affect the development of competitors' businesses at a critical stage, and may have a negative impact on the adoption of electric vehicles."

In addition to the fine, the Italian regulator said it has asked Google to provide the JuicePass app on Android Auto. Google has not yet commented on this. (Little)

Source: NetEase Technology Report, translated by Google Translate