Google will start charging European manufacturers of Android devices fees for its applications

Google is changing the way it licenses its suite of Android apps in Europe, causing the company to charge license fees for the Play Store and other Google apps for the first time.

These changes follow a decision by the European Commission last July, which sentenced the company to a $ 5 billion fine for violating antitrust laws and ordered it to stop "illegally tying" Chrome and seek apps on Android.

That's what Google does. If tablet and phone makers want, they'll be able to license the Play Store, Google's mobile apps, and Chrome and search separately, without having to bulk-accept them. Businesses will now be able to use the licenses and install Google apps on Android-provided versions.

Google has never billed its Android apps and services, due to revenue generated by Google Chrome and search engines. But their splitting changes the equation, so that businesses can now end up paying for things – like the Play Store – that we generally consider to be essential components of Android, but which are actually Google services.

"Since the pre-installation of Google Search and Chrome as well as our other applications have allowed us to finance the development and free distribution of Android, we will introduce a new fee-based license agreement for smartphones and smartphones. tablets delivered in the software. [European Economic Area]"Writes Hiroshi Lockheimer, who runs Android.

Lockheimer points out that Android will remain more widely free and open source – these changes only relate to Google services traditionally provided with the operating system. And companies can choose to ship a device without Google's apps and services if they do not want to pay, as Amazon has been doing for a long time and as it's already happening in China, where Google is not used .

But the Play Store will likely keep Google-related phone and tablet manufacturers, either by bundling these apps, or by paying, as it gives users access to the vast majority of Android apps. It is still unclear whether each device sold in Europe with the Google app and the Play Store will require a license fee – we contacted Google to clarify.

Google is appealing the decision of the European Commission. In the end, do not divide Android, Chrome and search. But for now, it must comply with the commission's decision and it will implement these changes from October 29.