South Korea's antitrust watchdog said it fined Google nearly $180 million on Tuesday for abusing its dominance in mobile operating systems and app markets. , in the latest in a series of regulatory actions against tech giants around the world.
The punishment came weeks after South Korea passed a law banning major app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing developers to use their payment systems, effectively advertising Monopolizing the lucrative Play Store and App Store is illegal, according to Al Arabiya.net.
Last week, a US judge ordered Apple to take control of the App Store's payment system, in an antitrust battle with Fortnite's Epic Games.
Google and Apple dominate the online app market in South Korea, which ranks 12th in the world's largest economy and is known for its technological prowess.
The Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has investigated Google since 2016, allegedly preventing domestic smartphone makers such as Samsung Electronics from customizing the Android operating system.< /p>
Google has impeded competition in the marketplace with an anti-retail agreement that prevents smartphone makers from installing modified versions of Android, known as Android fork, on their devices, she said.
Because of this, device makers were unable to launch innovative products with new services,' KFTC added in a statement.
As a result, Google can consolidate its market dominance in the mobile operating system market.
Google has fined 207.4 billion won ($176.8 million) and ordered the global tech giant to take corrective steps. Google emphasized that its Play Store commissions are industry-standard, and a fair compensation for building secure marketplaces where developers can reach people around the world.
The Play Store generated nearly 6 trillion won ($5.2 billion) in revenue in 2019, according to data from the Ministry of Science in Seoul.
