Swiss regulator investigates Android search settings, Google stock under pressure
The Swiss Competition Authority (COMCO) announced on Tuesday that it had The company launched an investigation to review whether search engine settings on its Android operating system violated the country's competition laws. Affected by this news, the stock price of Google parent company Alphabet fell in trading that day. COMCO said in a statement that the preliminary investigation focused on the design and presentation of the search selection menu provided by Google on Android devices. Regulators are concerned that the menu may not fully inform users of other available search engine options, thereby harming competitors' fair opportunity to be seen. The investigation is another European regulator questioning Google's dominance in mobile search, following the EU's. A Google spokesperson responded that the company would fully cooperate with COMCO's investigation and emphasized that its search selection menu is designed to balance user convenience and regulatory requirements, and it has been improving based on feedback. Google provided a search selection menu in the Android system, originally to comply with the EU's antitrust ruling. However, Switzerland is not an EU member state, and its regulatory agencies are independently reviewing the compliance of this matter in accordance with its own laws.