The American corporation intends to appeal the decision
SEOUL, April 11. /TASS/. The Fair Trade Commission of the Republic of Korea (KFTC) fined Google 42.1 billion won ($ 31.9 million) for unfair competition in the mobile gaming market, Yonhap reported on Tuesday.
From June 2016 to April 2018, Google provided publishers with in-game advertising in exchange for an exclusive release of games on the Google Play app store to undermine the position of competitor – the South Korean app store One Store. “By blocking the release of games in the One Store, the corporation from the United States hindered innovation, which hurt consumers in the app stores and the mobile games sector,” the KFTC said in its verdict. As a result, in two years, Google’s share among South Korean app stores has grown from 80-85% to 90-95%, and the share of One Store has decreased from 15-20% to 5-10%.
A representative of the American company promised to appeal the decision. “Google is investing heavily in the success of developers, and with all due respect, we disagree with the conclusions of the KFTC,” he said.
In 2021, South Korea’s antitrust regulator fined the American technology corporation more than $ 150 million for blocking modified versions of the Android operating system.