Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry is as hot as ever, with a record 204 billion downloads and $120 billion in global consumer spend in 2019. Not including third-party …
Read More »Amazon Third Party Sellers
Coming at the end of a roughly two-year investigation, the European Commission (EC) has accused Amazon of violating EU competition law by unfairly using access to non-public data on its platform to undermine competition. Amazon’s behavior as a retailer and as a marketplace are in conflict, according to the antitrust …
Read More »Google Antitrust Case
When you need to search for something on the internet, you are almost certainly turning to Google. Following years of investigations, the DOJ has filed an antitrust case against the search giant, revolving around the way Google keeps us using its search and advertising services. According to the Department …
Read More »FTC sues Qualcomm over chip licensing strategy, alleges antitrust abuses
The Federal Trade Commission has filed suit against Qualcomm, alleging that the company exploited its position as the dominant provider of baseband radios for LTE devices. In its brief, the FTC argues that Qualcomm used its position to extort higher royalties from smartphone manufacturers. The FTC asserts that Qualcomm enforces …
Read More »Google formally rebuts EU antitrust charges against Shopping, AdSense
Google has now formally responded to two antitrust charges brought against it by Europe’s Competition Commission, rebutting charges of exploiting the popularity of its search engine to boost its price comparison service, Google Shopping, and its ad placement service, AdSense. The company has yet to respond to a third EU antitrust complaint …
Read More »Google responds to EU antitrust charges against Android
Google has now filed its official response to the EU’s antitrust charges against its Android mobile OS. The company had previously been granted a deadline extension by the European Commission, which kicked off a formal investigation into Android back in April. According to Reuters the EC is intending to hit Google with …
Read More »