ACCC sues Google, seeks A$55 million penalty over Telco pre-install deals
Agreements (Dec 2019–Mar 2021) forced Google Search pre-installs on Android
Google admitted liability and proposes contract changes to remove exclusivity
Ruling could expand search choice and set default-setting antitrust precedent
Australia’s competition regulator on Monday filed court proceedings against Alphabet’s Google, saying the company struck anti-competitive deals with Telstra and Optus to pre-install Google Search on Android phones and has jointly submitted that it should pay an AU$55 million ($35.8 million) penalty after admitting liability.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says the agreements, struck between December 2019 and March 2021, required Telstra and Optus to pre-install Google Search on Android devices they sold in return for a share of ad revenue, arrangements the regulator says substantially reduced competition from rival search engines.
Google Pledges Contract Changes
Google Asia Pacific has cooperated with the ACCC, admitted liability and agreed to a court-enforceable undertaking to remove certain pre-installation and default-search restrictions from commercial contracts with device makers and telecom operators, a change the company says it has not been including in recent agreements.
The Federal Court must still decide whether the A$55 million penalty is appropriate.
The action follows a run of setbacks for Google in Australia, including a largely adverse ruling in a suit by Epic Games over app-store rules and recent regulatory attention to YouTube under new social-media rules, developments the ACCC said make the outcome important for future search choice and competition.
ACCC Frames
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the resolution “creates the potential for millions of Australians to have greater search choice in the future,” while Google said it was pleased to resolve the regulator’s concerns and would provide Android device makers more flexibility to pre-load browsers and search apps.
Telstra and Optus have said they cooperated with the regulator and have not entered similar exclusive pre-installation agreements since 2024.
The Federal Court will consider the joint submission on the penalty in coming days; if approved, the decision will be one more precedent point in a global wave of antitrust scrutiny of how dominant platform owners manage defaults and distribution on mobile devices.
Observers say the case could also sharpen regulatory focus on default-setting practices as AI reshapes how users discover and access search services.
