​Google targeted in new Brazil probe over Android, mobile dominance

Google has been targeted in a Brazilian antitrust probe over its alleged use of the Android operating system to dominate the mobile device market, MLex has learned.

The decision to open a preliminary probe of the search giant was signed today by Alexandre Cordeiro, Superintendent of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, or CADE, it is understood.

Google was fined EUR4.34 billion in Europe for imposing restrictive terms on smartphone makers that use its open-source Android operating system to cement the company's dominance in Internet search.

The European authority determined that Google had stopped the practices it was charged for. Google appealed the European decision but also removed restrictions on Android to comply with the decision.

Google has been under investigation in Brazil since 2011 for allegedly engaging in anticompetitive conduct in the online-shopping market, scraping content from rival sites, and using Adwords to stifle competition by favoring its own businesses over competitors.

CADE's Tribunal is to rule on those allegations. The Tribunal has received recommendations from investigators to close the probes due to lack of evidence of wrongdoing.