- Google aims to maintain and strengthen the monopoly power of its app market Google Play, Restricting game companies from entering one-store
- Global Platform Giant Abuses Market Dominance To Limit Competition In App Market Market
- The Fair Trade Commission decided to impose 42.1 billion won in fines on Google along with a corrective order
The Fair Trade Commission (Chairman Han Ki-jung, hereinafter referred to as the "Fair Trade Commission") has decided to impose a 42.1 billion won (tentative) penalty along with a corrective order for Google's actions that hinder competition in the app market by preventing mobile game companies from launching competitive app market (one-store) games.
As the dominant market operator in the Android app market, Google provided front-page exposure (featuring) and overseas expansion support, which are very important for mobile game sales, as a condition for exclusive Google Play launch, preventing game companies from releasing games in One Store freely.
Google continued this activity from June 2016 when OneStore was launched until April 2018, when the FTC launched an investigation, and implemented it for the entire mobile game market, including not only large game companies such as 3N (N) (Netmarble, Nexon, and NCsoft) but also small and medium game companies.
As a result, OneStore, a latecomer, failed to attract new games normally, which not only directly caused a decline in sales, but also reduced its value as a platform for OneStore.
As a result, Google was able to further consolidate its dominance in the app market.
The move is significant in that it has created fair competitive conditions in the app market as part of establishing a fair market order emphasized by the Yoon Suk Yeoln government by severely sanctioning the actions of giant platform companies such as Google that strengthen their monopoly power in the app market.
In particular, the monopoly of the app market can adversely affect the overall mobile ecosystem involved, so it is particularly important to restore competition in this market.
In the future, the FTC plans to strictly enforce the law without discrimination between domestic and foreign companies against anti-competitive acts performed by platform operators that dominate the market to maintain and strengthen their monopoly status.