Google has been given another fortnight to respond to EU charges of antitrust. In April, Google was told that it was forcing smartphone manufacturers to pre-install its own programmes, which was “harming consumer choice”. The company was given three months to respond to the charges, but that time has now been extended by a further two weeks. Google responded initially, saying that it took the charges seriously, but felt it gave “consumers unprecedented control of their mobile devices”. If found to be breaching the rules, the search giant could find itself with a fine of 7.4 billion dollars, equalling 10% of its global turnover. Recently, Google was fined 6.8 million US dollars in an extremely similar case in Russia, where it was found guilty of breaking anti-competition laws.Â
