South Korea Fines Google $32 Million for Squeezing Local Rival
- Watchdog says Google promoted games in return for exclusivity
- Google’s Play Store dominates Korea’s mobile app market
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South Korea fined Alphabet Inc.’s Google 42.1 billion won ($32 million) for using its clout in the mobile app market to squeeze out a local rival, the latest sign of intensifying scrutiny on the US tech firm as it seeks to expand overseas.
Google tried to block Korean platform rival One Store Co.’s growth, Korea’s Fair Trade Commission said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday. Google allegedly asked some of Korean game companies including NCSoft Corp. and Netmarble Corp., as well as smaller firms and Chinese companies, to exclusively release their new games in Google’s Play Store, in return for Google promoting their games and providing further support abroad.