Google will charge Android device makers a licensing fee to preinstall its apps in Europe

[nir]

Google has announced that is shaking up how its suite of apps are distributed through Android in Europe.
 

The news comes after the Alphabet subsidiary was hit with a $5 billion fine by EU antitrust regulators, though the internet giant is in the process of appealing that fine.

 

The story so far

Way back in May 2015, the European Commission (EC) formally accused Google of using its dominance to bias search results, which was the result of a four-year investigation into the matter. Simultaneously, the EC revealed it was launching another probe into Android regarding the way it reportedly forced smartphone and tablet manufacturers to bundle some Google apps, including Gmail, Google Search, and Google Play, on Android phones. Europe filed formal antitrust objections against Google and Android in April 2016.
 

Google has long argued that manufacturers are free to do as they please with Android — and it is correct, because Android is released under an open source license. As we’ve seen, Amazonmhas used a forked version of Android on its Kindle Fire tablets through which it sets its own default apps. But doing so limits Amazon’s access to certain native Google apps, such as YouTube. In short, if a manufacturer wants to use Android and preinstall the aforementioned Google apps, it must use the whole suite — it can’t cherry-pick which ones it uses. If it wants to include Google Maps, Gmail, and YouTube, it has to include Google Play, Chrome, and Google Search as default too. This is what Europe deemed to be anti-competitive, and it is the exact same complaint that Google eventually lost out in Russia about.

Licensing

Fast forward to today, and Google has finally unveiled its solution to Europe’s complaints while it appeals its gargantuan fine: a new licensing model for manufacturers who wish to distribute phones and tablets in the European Economic Area (EEA) with its apps installed. For the record, the EEA constitutes European Union (EU) countries and a handful of other markets such as Iceland.
 

Starting from October 29, 2018, Google said it will now allow manufacturers to distribute Google apps on forked versions of Android in the EEA.
 

“We’re updating the compatibility agreements with mobile device makers that set out how Android is used to develop smartphones and tablets,” noted Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s senior vice president for platforms and ecosystems, in a blog post. “Going forward, Android partners wishing to distribute Google apps may also build non-compatible, or forked, smartphones and tablets for the European Economic Area.”
 

However, this will come at a cost. Google will now separate Google Search and Chrome from its other suite of apps, such as Maps, YouTube, Gmail and the Google Play store, and offer separate licenses for each “bundle” which it will charge for.

However, it seems that manufacturers who do sign up to preinstall Google services such as Play, Gmail, Maps, and YouTube will be able to install Google Search and Chrome for free.
 

This fundamentally changes how Android can be distributed in Europe, as it gives manufacturers more options in terms of the default apps they install — they can make Bing and Firefox the default search engine and browser if they like, and still gain access to Google’s suite of apps, including the Google Play store. But they will have to pay for the privilege — how much is not clear, though.
 

Ultimately, this model is all about regaining revenue they may lose from no longer having as many Google Search and Chrome installations.
 

“Since the pre-installation of Google Search and Chrome together with our other apps helped us fund the development and free distribution of Android, we will introduce a new paid licensing agreement for smartphones and tablets shipped into the EEA,” Lockheimer added.
 

The theory always was that Europe could lead the way on Android’s great unbundling, and today’s news certainly indicates that is the case. But it is also worth noting that Google services are hugely popular, and many manufacturers likely won’t want to mess too much with the state-of-play on Android. But it does give them more freedom to monetize by developing their own app stores, for example, or securing more lucrative deals with other third-party players.
 

“We’ll be working closely with our Android partners in the coming weeks and months to transition to the new agreements,” Lockheimer continued. “And of course, we remain deeply committed to continued innovation for the Android ecosystem.”

Source

[steven36]

So now they like Microsoft is everywhere in the EU they going charge for there spyware   ... The problem there going to have Android is open source meaning someone  can charge  vendors for software or even give it too them free and it be free of data harvesting. So the EU won because now  the  Android Linux  will be fragmented like Desktop Linux is  .

 

And it's not going to effect just the EU it will effect everybody.

Quote

 

The company’s decision to implement license fees for its apps will have ripple effects on the global mobile phone ecosystem. While the new fees only apply to devices sold in Europe, phone makers in Asia, the U.S. and elsewhere will have to adjust their cost structures in Europe—one of the world’s most mature smartphone markets. Consumers bought more than 94 million new Android smartphones in Europe last year, according to research firm IDC.

 

It isn’t clear yet how large an impact the fees will have on phone makers—or on what consumers pay for phones. Some low-cost manufacturers may opt to stop pre-installing Google apps, instead allowing consumers to download them manually.

 

Now it will be up to vendor and doubt they pay Google  they will just tell people if they want Google apps you will have to install them yourself just like you have to install them on Windows or desktop  Linux. Also something needs be done about Google paying off Phone makers like Apple  billions to use there search . Also they pay Firefox and other browsers and other kinds of software off to use there products . The reason they use Google services is Google pays them off. A lot of apps on Android require Google  spyware  for them to even run.  Apple makes more from Google being default search than they make from Itunes  every year . They pay way more every year to stay a search engine  monopoly  then the EU ever was going to fine them.

 

  The reason Google done so good was not was because they charged for it's services,  it is the fact they could give them away free and pay vendors instead of you paying for there software ..  Google pays them to use there ads and data harvesting  . You ever install  a app on Android  that did not have the ads removed ? It reminds you of apps on Windows from the 1990s and  very early 2000s full of ads and spyware  . I use to play around with them  with a emulator but i removed it from my PC because windows have plenty of software without installing  ad infested spyware. 

 

They way PC makers get around  a Lic fee  on Windows is vendors pay them money to bundle demoware apps and that pays for the Windows Lic fee  , But Google dont own Android like Microsoft do windows . Everything they make they used open source and built on top of it,  so they own nothing but  there services,   they make nothing that can't be forked because Google got rich from using open source. And now its biting them in the butt.

 

Others do it too  but they not a monopoly. If were not for companies who get rich from selling Linux software  they would be no free Linux Software  because they do most all the work but the difference is they get rich in a  fragmented market  were we have lots of choices and Google was greedy  and dont want give up control of what they dont even own . Just like they try to weave the WWW when that don't belong to them ether.