Google Automotive Services proceeding – Market test regarding commitments proposed by Google

In response to the Bundeskartellamt’s competition concerns about a number of practices used in connection with Google Automotive Services, Google has now proposed solutions to solve the issue. The Bundeskartellamt has contacted vehicle manufacturers and competitors of Google to obtain their assessment of these proposals as well as further information, in particular on technical questions. Companies that are affected by the case and have not already been contacted by the authority are also expressly invited to comment. For further information please send an email to: b7-25-22@bundeskartellamt.bund.de.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “Our preliminary view is that a number of Google’s practices in licensing Google Maps, Google Assistant and Google Play for in-vehicle use do not comply with our rules for large digital companies. We are particularly concerned about the compulsory bundling of services with great market strength and reach with services that are less strong. This conduct in particular can result in expanding market power and strengthening ecosystems; it is a particularly problematic way of “penetrating” markets. It could reduce competitors’ opportunities to sell competing services. We are now going to examine very closely whether Google’s proposals are capable of effectively terminating the practices that have raised concerns.”

In June 2023 the Bundeskartellamt forwarded its preliminary legal assessment of Google’s practices in connection with Google Automotive Services to Alphabet Inc., Mountain View, USA, and Google Germany GmbH, Hamburg, raising objections about the following practices (press release of 21 June 2023):

• Google offers vehicle manufacturers the services Google Maps, Google Play and Google Assistant as a bundle only (referred to as “Google Automotive Services”).
• Google grants certain vehicle manufacturers a share of the advertising revenue on condition that they refrain from pre-installing other voice assistants next to Google Assistant.
• Google Automotive Services licence holders must set Google services as a default or display them prominently.
• Google limits or refuses to allow interoperability of the services included in the Google Automotive Services with third-party services.

To dispel the competition law concerns, Google proposes to separately offer three further products (Google Maps OEM Software Development Kit, Google Play Store and Cloud Custom Assistant) in addition to the Google Automotive Services product bundle. The Software Development Kit is to enable vehicle manufacturers to develop a maps and navigation service with functionalities that are equivalent to those offered by Google Maps. Google Play Store is an application storefront to be used in vehicles which allows end users to download and consume applications. The Cloud Custom Assistant is a proprietary AI voice assistant solution to be used in vehicles.

Furthermore, Google proposes to eliminate its contractual provisions on sharing revenue on the condition that Google Assistant is exclusively pre-installed in the Google Automotive Services infotainment platform. Google is also prepared to eliminate its contractual provisions on setting Google services as default applications or displaying them prominently in the infotainment platform. Lastly, Google is prepared to enable licence holders to combine Google Assistant services with other maps and navigation services and provide for the technical preconditions to create the necessary interoperability.

Based on the results of the market tests the Bundeskartellamt will decide whether Google’s proposals are generally capable of dispelling the concerns that have been addressed. The question of whether Google’s proposals will result in an unbundled offering of Google’s services in the automotive sector will be decisive in this context.