According to a new report, the Federal Trade Commission has expanded its investigation into Android over concerns that Google is exploiting its dominant position in the smartphone market. Google may not be making phones that everybody is buying but it makes Android, the OS that powers majority of the smartphones being sold across the globe.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Trade Commission has met with several companies to hear concerns about how Android’s dominant share in the market is being used or perhaps being misused against other companies.
According to the report, what initially began as a probe last year has quietly been expanded into a bigger investigation, and the timing couldn’t be any more surprising as Google recently saw antitrust charges being filed against it in the European Union.
Federal Trade Commission is investigating similar complaints against Google in the United States, complaints relating to the company putting non-Google services on Android at a disadvantage. Regulators in the United States are hoping to sift through the EU case to find further information on the matter.
Even if the FTC is looking into Android’s dominant market share to try and ascertain if Google has been putting competitors at a disadvantage, it doesn’t necessarily mean any legal action will be taken against the company. Perhaps a settlement could be reached.