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PHOTO OF THE FILE: an illuminated Google logo appears in an office building in Zurich, Switzerland, on December 5, 2018. REUTERS / Arnd Wiegmann
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The Czech search engine Seznam asked Google on Friday to unveil more details about its plan to strengthen rival search applications on Android smartphones, saying it continued to lose users because anti-competitive practices.
Seznam, which generates as much advertising spending as Google in the Czech Republic, presented its grievance to the European Commission nearly three years ago.
He then joined the FairSearch lobbying group, whose complaint triggered the European Commission's investigation into Google's mobile operating system, which ultimately resulted in a record fine of 4.34 billion euros.
"Time is of the essence, every day makes a difference. Seznam loses market share because of Google's default search engine installed on mobile phones, "said Michal Feix, former managing director of Seznam, now a partner of a consulting firm that advises the company.
EU antitrust authorities have stated that Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., had used its market power on Android to hinder competition.
Kent Walker, senior vice president of international business at Google, said in a blog this week that his company plans to encourage users to choose their favorite browsers and search applications, but he did not provided details.
Feix welcomed this idea in principle. "It's probably the solution we're looking for, but it depends on the details. Walker's blog lacked details, "he said.
Google spokesman Al Verney declined to comment.
Report of Foo Yun Chee; Edited by Edmund Blair
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