UPDATE 2-Canada's competition watchdog drops probe into Google

(Adds comment from Google)
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, April 19 (Reuters) - Canada's Competition Bureau
said on Tuesday that it was dropping an investigation into
Google after saying in 2013 that it suspected the company was
abusing its dominant position in online search.
The watchdog said it had found evidence to support one of
the allegations against Google but that the company had already
made changes to remedy those concerns and agreed not to
reintroduce anticompetitive clauses in its contracts.
The Bureau said it did not find sufficient evidence of a
substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the market
to support its other allegations against Google, now a unit of
holding company Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O .
"We're pleased that the Canadian Competition Bureau has
decided to end its inquiry," Google Senior Vice President and
General Counsel Kent Walker said in an emailed statement.
The watchdog filed a legal motion against the company in
December 2013, saying it had unfairly given preference to its
own services over rival offerings since at least 2005.
Besides its search engine, the company also owns the Android
mobile operating system and the Chrome web browser.
Google made changes to its terms and conditions applicable
in Canada after settling a similar case with the U.S. Federal
Trade Commission in 2013.
The news comes as a respite to Google, which is likely to
soon face charges from the European competition commission. On
Monday, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that the
European watchdog agency was gearing up to charge Google with
giving unfair prominence to its own apps like search and maps in
supplementary software licensing deals it strikes with mobile
phone makers running its Android operating system.
Google generated an estimated $11 billion (9.73 billion
euros) last year from sales of ads running on Android phones
featuring its own apps. Android has become the dominant mobile
software in recent years, running a majority of the world's
smartphones.
If the EU finds Google guilty of market abuse, it could fine
the company up to $7.4 billion, or 10 percent of 2015 revenue,
while forcing it to change its business practices.