Google, a search engine giant, has been hit by a record-setting fine of 4.3 billion euros for abusing antitrust laws. According to the report from Verge, the European Commission has abused Android market dominance and forced search engine and chrome into the operating system.

It is also alleged that Google blocked smartphone makers from developing devices that run on a forked version of Android. Moreover, it has also reported that the tech giant made payments to various large manufacturers and mobile network operators for exclusively employing 'Search app' on the devices.

It is alleged that Google dominates market with a share of over 80 per cent in many countries, which has forcefully barred its rivals out of the search market, creating a near-monopoly for the search giant. Google Hit With Massive $5 Billion Fine by European Commission Over Its Android OS Strategy.

The European Commission is looking to end Google's illegal conduct effectively within a timeframe of 90 days after the decision. With this, the search giant will no longer force manufacturers from pre-installing Chrome and Google Search on the handsets.

The European Commission has been investigating Android more closely over the past few years, since a rival complained about Google abusing its market dominance in software which runs on the smartphones. It was in the year 2013 when FairSearch initially filed a complaint against Google and the group comprised of competitors such as Nokia, Microsoft, and Oracle.

Vestager said that “Google has used Android as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine. The company’s efforts have denied European consumers the benefits of effective competition in the important mobile sphere. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2018 05:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).