Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development
Google Asia Pacific has today been ordered by the Federal Court to pay $55 million in penalties for engaging in anti-competitive conduct when it reached understandings with Telstra and Optus about pre-installing Google Search on Android mobile phones. The Court proceedings were brought by the ACCC.
The understandings, which were in place between December 2019 and March 2021, required Telstra and Optus to only pre-install Google Search on Android phones they sold to consumers, and not other search engines.
In return, Telstra and Optus received a share of the revenue Google generated from ads displayed to consumers when they used Google Search on their Android phones.
Google cooperated with the ACCC and admitted that it had engaged in anti-competitive conduct that had the likely effect of substantially lessening competition and also made joint submissions with the ACCC in relation to penalties.
“This penalty should send a strong message to all businesses that there are serious and costly consequences for engaging in anti-competitive conduct,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.
“Our market economy is predicated on businesses competing freely with each other, which is why locking out competing businesses in a way that substantially lessens competition is illegal.”
In addition to the $55m in penalties imposed by the Court, on 18 August 2025 Google and the US-based Google LLC provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking in which they committed to removing certain pre-installation and default search engine restrictions from Google’s contracts with Android phone manufacturers and telcos.
Google’s undertaking is in addition to court-enforceable undertakings provided by Telstra, Optus and TPG last year. The ACCC accepted the undertakings from the three telcos to resolve concerns about their involvement in these agreements with Google.
In the court-enforceable undertakings provided by Telstra, Optus and TPG, the telcos undertook not to renew or make new arrangements with Google that require its search services to be pre-installed and set as the default search function on an exclusive basis on Android devices they supply.
The three telcos can configure search services on a device-by-device basis, and in ways that may not align with the settings set by Google. They can also enter into pre-installation agreements with other search providers.
“Today’s outcome, combined with the undertakings from Google and the telcos, creates the potential for millions of Australians to have greater search choice in the future. Other search tools, including those enhanced by artificial intelligence, can now compete with Google for pre-installation on Android phones,” Mr Keogh said.
“Search tools, including those that incorporate AI, are rapidly changing how we search for information, and it’s critical that competitors to Google can gain meaningful exposure to Australian consumers.”
Competition issues in the digital economy are a current ACCC compliance and enforcement priority.
Background
Google LLC and Google Asia Pacific
Google LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
Since at least 2017, Google LLC and/or its related bodies corporate have signed many contractual arrangements to distribute Google apps, including Google Search. These agreements include mobile application distribution agreements and revenue share agreements.
Google Asia Pacific is the contracting counterparty for mobile revenue share agreements in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia.
Court proceedings
The ACCC commenced Federal Court proceedings against Google Asia Pacific on 18 August 2025.
Telstra, Optus and TPG are not parties to the proceedings.
The Digital Platform Services Inquiry
The ACCC’s Digital Platforms Branch conducted a five-year inquiry into markets for the supply of digital platform services in Australia and their impacts on competition and consumers, which included an update on general search services, published in December 2024.
In the inquiry’s fifth report, published in November 2022, the ACCC made a range of recommendations to bolster competition in the digital economy, level the playing field between big tech companies and Australian businesses, and reduce prices for consumers.
In this report the ACCC recommended a new regulatory regime to promote competition in digital platform services. One of the ACCC’s recommendations was for the government to introduce a framework for mandatory service-specific codes for Designated Digital Platforms to address a range of competition issues, including exclusive pre-installation and default agreements that hinder competition. Treasury has consulted on a proposed approach to implement a new digital competition regime administered by the ACCC.