Google under US scanner for ‘anti-competitive’ Android policies

A logo of Google at its European Engineering Center in Zurich. (Reuters)

Google Inc is currently under the scanner of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to check if the tech giant stifled its competitors' access to its Android mobile-operating system, according to Bloomberg report.

FTC officials have met with representatives of technology companies who said Google gives priority to its own services on the Android platform, while restricting others, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Reuters reported in April that some technology companies had complained to the Department of Justice that the Android mobile operating system is anti-competitive, urging the US antitrust enforcers to investigate allegations that Google unfairly uses its Android system to win online advertising.

The FTC and the DoJ have reached an agreement for the FTC to spearhead the investigation into Google's Android business, the Bloomberg report said. The inquiry is in its early stages and could end without a case against the company, the news agency said.

Reuters could not immediately reach the FTC and Google for comment outside regular US business hours.