The fine adds to Google’s recent setbacks in Australia, where it also faced a court ruling in Epic Games’ app store case and saw YouTube included in a national social media ban for under-16s.
Google agreed on Monday to pay a A$55 million ($35.8 million) fine in Australia after the competition regulator found it paid the country’s two biggest telecom firms, Telstra and Optus, to pre-install Google Search on Android phones between late 2019 and early 2021, excluding rival search engines.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said Google shared advertising revenue with the carriers under the deals, which it admitted had a substantial impact on competition.
The company has since stopped signing similar agreements. “Today’s outcome … created the potential for millions of Australians to have greater search choice in the future,” ACCC Chair Gina-Cass Gottlieb said.
Google and the ACCC have jointly submitted the penalty to the Federal Court, which must still approve it. The regulator said cooperation with Google avoided lengthy litigation.
A Google spokesperson reportedly told Reuters the company was pleased to resolve the concerns, noting the provisions had not been in its contracts “for some time,” and added it would give Android device makers more flexibility to pre-load browsers and search apps while keeping costs low.
Telstra said it and Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications, had fully cooperated and committed not to sign such deals since 2024.
The fine adds to a bumpy stretch for Alphabet-owned Google in Australia. Last week, a court essentially ruled against it in an Epic Games lawsuit alleging restrictions on rival app stores. At the same time, YouTube was recently added to a national ban on under-16s using social media.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Google was ‘bearish’ amid ‘extremely low’ message volume.
Google-parent Alphabet’s stock has risen 8% so far in 2025.
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