Things could get uncomfortable for Google in Germany in the near future: The Federal Cartel Office has carried out a reassessment of the parent company Alphabet, which gives the authority significantly more leeway in the event of violations.

Google

Google in the sights of the Federal Cartel Office

For the first time, the Federal Cartel Office has one for Google “Outstanding, cross-market importance” detected. With this reassessment, activities of Google are now subject to an “extended abuse control”, as the President of the Cartel Office, Andreas Mundt, explains. This makes it much easier to prohibit competitive practices, which could have noticeable consequences for Google in Germany.

Should be in the future “Concrete, harmful to competition” Behavior is determined by Google, then the Federal Cartel Office is given more leeway. The background to the reassessment is a procedure based on newly introduced regulations for digital corporations, which was initiated in May 2021. Here, Google’s data processing practices are the focus of the cartel watchdogs’ interests. The news offering from Google News Showcase is also being scrutinized more closely (source: Time online).

In Germany, they have been in effect since January 2021 new rules in competition law, which is why the Federal Cartel Office is taking action against Google and other tech companies. In the case of anti-competitive practices, the authority can intervene earlier and prohibit them.

In everyday life it doesn’t always have to be Google, because there are also alternatives:

Not just Google: proceedings against Amazon, Apple and Meta

In addition to Google, other tech companies are also being targeted by the Federal Cartel Office. Against Amazon, Apple and Meta (Facebook) According to the Federal Cartel Office, there are also investigation procedures. If the authority comes to a similar assessment, then the named US companies in this country must also expect stricter controls.