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Apple, Google to face probe in UK over industry dominance

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The United Kingdom’s competition watchdog said it is investigating Apple and Google’s dominance in the mobile browsers space.

The probe by the UK authority followed support received from industry players in a consultation process which began in June.

Sarah Cardell, interim CEO of Competition and Market Authority, CMA, in a statement to confirm the decision to probe both American tech giants said it planned to investigate both companies’ practices and assess whether concerns raised “are justified and if so, identify steps to improve competition and innovation in these sectors.”

READ ALSO:Google to pay $392m settlement in US breech of privacy case

According to the UK competition body, responses garnered from the consultation process issued by browser vendors, web developers and cloud gaming service providers indicated that Apple and Google’s dominance was harming businesses.

Speaking on other challenges resulting from the dominance, the body noted that the companies were holding back innovation and adding to unnecessary costs.

Google and Apple browsers remain some of the most popular apps on mobile devices for most internet users to access various types of content.

In 2021, 97 per cent of mobile web browsing was conducted via Apple or Google browsers.

“So any restrictions on these engines can have a major impact on users’ experiences, “ the UK authority said.

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