From TechCrunch: Following competition objections raised on Google in Germany this summer over bundling of services including Google Maps via its Android-based in-car infotainment system software, known as Google Automotive Services (GAS), the tech giant has made an offer of some service unbundling and the removal of contractual restrictions it applies to vehicle makers in a bid to settle the regulatory intervention.
Google’s proposed remedies will be put to car makers in a market test by the German competition regulator before it decides whether or not they resolve issues it’s identified.
Back in June, the country’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) sent a statement of objections to the tech giant over how it operates GAS — specifically calling out Google’s bundling of Google Maps, Google Play and Google Assistant in the offer to vehicle manufacturers.
The statement also highlighted Google’s practice of only granting vehicle makers a share of ad revenue if they refrained from pre-installing other voice assistants next to its own voice AI. Another concern the FCO raised is GAS licence holders are required by Google to set its bundled services as the default or else display them prominently. It also objected to Google limiting or refusing to allow interoperability of services included in GAS with third-party services.
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