German antitrust office finds Google's car offer threat to competition

BERLIN, June 21 (Xinhua) -- The German Federal Cartel Office (BKartA) announced Wednesday that it would prohibit certain "anti-competitive practices" by the U.S. tech company Google, including the bundling of its Maps service with other services for vehicle manufacturers.

The antitrust office said that its preliminary legal assessment related to Google Automotive Services, which bundles Maps, Play, and Assistant, has been sent to parent company Alphabet Inc. and Google Germany.

"We take a critical view of Google offering its services for infotainment systems as a bundle only, as this reduces its competitors' chances to sell their competing services as individual services," said Federal Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt.

According to Germany's competition watchdog, Google had entered into a participation agreement on advertising revenue from the use of Google Assistant with some vehicle manufacturers, which was conditional on the company's voice assistant being installed exclusively.

In addition, the U.S. tech company had contractually obligated licensees to set Google services as standard or to display them in a highlighted manner. The antitrust office accused Google of using the bundling practice "to expand its position of power to markets which are still competitive."

Before a final decision is taken on Google's business practices in Germany, the company will be given the opportunity to comment, the Federal Cartel Office said.

At the same time, the German authority has already been conducting proceedings regarding the restriction of competition in connection with Google Maps. This has been done in close coordination with the European Commission, which recently subjected large online platforms to special supervision through the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

"As a company of paramount significance for competition across markets, Google is subject to stricter abuse control," Mundt said when announcing the proceedings into Google Maps in June last year.