(Adds Canada ruling)
By Eric Auchard
FRANKFURT, April 19 (Reuters) - For more than a decade,
Internet search and advertising giant Google, now a unit of
holding company Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O , has sparred with
competitors in an expanding range of industries from Internet to
media to telecoms to automobiles.
It has also battled with judges and regulators.
After fending off charges of anti-competitive behaviour for
many years, the Silicon Valley company has, since 2014, seen the
tide swing against it in several antitrust cases worldwide.
On Tuesday, Canada's Competition Commission closed an
inquiry into Google's search and advertising practices dating
from 2013.
The European Competition Commission is expected on Wednesday
to charge Google with anti-competitive charges concerning its
Android mobile phone operating system, two people familiar with
the matter said. timeline of Google competition cases follows:
2007 - USA - Competitors and consumer groups push U.S. Federal
Trade Commission to investigate Google's acquisition of online
display advertising firm DoubleClick. FTC signs off on deal but
warns it will monitor Google closely for anticompetitive
practices. http://reut.rs/1SpRyoH
2008 - USA - Google and Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) abandon pact to run Google search
ads on Yahoo sites after U.S. Justice Department moved to block
deal saying the two competitors would dominate online ad market.
2009-2010 - EUROPE - Rivals and industry trade groups file
complaints against Google to a variety of national regulators in
Europe, citing competition concerns.
2010 - EUROPE - European Commission launches formal antitrust
probe of Google search business, which continues. http://reut.rs/1Nz2yvq
2013 - USA - The FTC drops a two-year antitrust probe of Google,
concluding it has not manipulated search results to hurt rivals.
Google had to agree to certain changes in search business
practices in local search, advertising and with regard to
licensing patent portfolio to mobile phone makers. http://reut.rs/23VVYsx
2013 - SOUTH KOREA - Korean Fair Trade Commission clears Google
after two-year antitrust inquiry brought by local search rivals
NHN (now Naver 035420.KS ) and Daum (now Kakao 035720.KQ ),
which dominate the country's search market. The FTC finds the
rival companies' market share changed little despite Google's
pre-loading requirements for its apps on Android phones.
Smartphone makers defend Google's role in Android as saving them
time and money.
2013 - BRAZIL - Brazilian antitrust watchdog CADE investigates
whether Google unfairly scrapes the content from rival websites,
discourages their advertisers and favours its own product
listings in search results. http://reut.rs/1Vzfhqp
2013-2014 - EUROPE - Back and forth ensues between Google and EU
over terms of a potential settlement that would have ended
European Commission antitrust probe. Competitors complain
Commission is letting off Google too easily. EU antitrust chief
Joaquin Alumnia eventually admits resolution of Google search
case unlikely before his term expires later in 2014. http://reut.rs/1NyZGyM
2014 - EUROPE - Mounting anti-Google feeling among European
politicians is reflected in the passage of a symbolic,
non-binding resolution calling for the break-up of Google's
search engine business from the rest of the company. The motion,
which does not mention Google explicitly by name, passes with
384 in favour to 174 votes against. - EUROPE - New EU Antitrust Chief Margrethe
Vestager charges Google with distorting its search results to
favour its own shopping service over rivals. European Commission
also says it is investigating Google's Android business,
"scraping" on rival's Web content and various advertising
issues. http://reut.rs/1qVY5ya
2015 - INDIA - Competition Commission of India (CCI) concludes a
three-year enquiry into Google's paid search results. It accuses
Google of abusing its dominant position in search in a report
which has yet to be publicly released. CCI has received Google's
response but sets no timeline for a final decision. http://reut.rs/1NkjmLY
2015 - USA - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission opens a
preliminary investigation into whether Google uses its Android
operating system to dominate competitors as more consumers go
mobile, sources told Reuters.
2015 - EUROPE - Russia's anti-monopoly agency finds Google
guilty of abusing its market position in the country by
favouring its own apps on Android and requiring it to amend its
contracts with smartphone makers. Google files a court appeal,
which is rejected in March 2016. http://reut.rs/1RJLcxg
2016 - CANADA - The Competition Bureau closes a three-year long
investigation into Google's online search business, saying it
will take no action against the company. The Canadian watchdog
says it found evidence to support one allegation that Google had
made it hard for advertisers to compare Google ad rates to
rivals, but says the company has already remedied the practice.
http://reut.rs/1S8BkBr
2016 - EUROPE - European Competition Commission is expected on
Wednesday to charge Google with favouring its own apps on
Android phones, sources tell Reuters. http://reut.rs/1VxTAad
http://reut.rs/23InDjY
(Sources: Reuters, European Commission, U.S. Federal Trade
Commission, FairSearch lobbying group)