Following antitrust objections to Google in Germany this summer over its bundling of services, including Google Maps, through its Android-based in-car infotainment system software known as Google Automotive Services (GAS), the tech giant sought to unbundle some services and resolve regulatory interference. Removing contractual restrictions imposed on vehicle manufacturers for the purpose of
Google’s proposed solutions will be given a market test to carmakers by the German competition regulator before deciding whether they solve the identified problems.
In June, the country’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) sent the tech giant a statement of objections over how it operated GAS; He particularly drew attention to the fact that Google brought together Google Maps, Google Play and Google Assistant in its offer to vehicle manufacturers.
The statement also highlighted Google’s practice of giving vehicle manufacturers a share of advertising revenue only if they refrain from pre-installing other voice assistants alongside its own voice artificial intelligence. Another concern raised by the FCO is that Google’s GAS license holders are being asked to set bundled services as default or display them prominently. It also objected to Google limiting or refusing to allow interoperability of GAS-included services with third-party services.
“We are particularly critical of Google offering its services for infotainment systems only as a bundle, as this reduces the chances of its Rivals selling rival services as individual services,” the FCO said in a statement in the summer.
“We are particularly concerned about the forced bundling of services with high market power with less powerful services. In particular, this behavior can lead to the expansion of market power and the strengthening of ecosystems; “This is a particularly problematic way of ‘entering’ markets,” FCO chairman Andreas Mundt said in a press release on Wednesday to announce Google’s bid. “It may reduce competitors’ opportunities to sell competing services. “We will now look very closely at whether Google’s recommendations can effectively shut down apps that raise concerns.”
Google’s proposed solutions to address the FCO’s competition concerns include offering three products separately in addition to the GAS product suite, which is said to allow vehicle manufacturers to address competition concerns: Google Maps OEM Software Development Kit, Google Play Store and Cloud Private Assistant. Developing a map and navigation service with functionalities equivalent to those offered by Google Maps.
The addition of the Google Play Store will also allow end users to download a wider selection of third-party apps, alleviating concerns about them shifting to using Google’s own apps. Cloud Custom Assistant is described as a “proprietary AI voice assistant solution” for use in vehicles to enable automakers to offer competing assistants.
The tech giant has also offered to remove contractual provisions it has in place regarding sharing advertising revenue, provided that its Google Assistant voice AI is only pre-installed on its GAS infotainment platform.
“Google is also prepared to scrap contractual provisions around setting Google services as default apps or displaying them prominently on the infotainment platform,” the FCO said. “Finally, Google is ready to enable licensees to combine Google Assistant services with other maps and navigation services and provide the technical prerequisites to create the necessary interoperability.”
“Based on the results of market tests, the Bundeskartellamt [FCO] will decide whether Google’s proposals can address the concerns generally addressed. “The question of whether Google’s offerings will result in a unbundled offering of Google services in the automotive industry will be decisive in this context,” he added.