Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd [2025] FCA 1554 — Restrictive Trade Practices & Pecuniary Penalties — Barrister AI
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
› Whether understanding hindered competition in market for general search engine services
› Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), ss 4E, 4G, 45(1)(a)
Competition Law
› Restrictive trade practices
› Market definition
› Product dimension of relevant market
› Whether market limited to general search engine services or includes specialised and social media search services
› Whether necessary to determine precise product dimension
› Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), s 4E
Competition Law
› Pecuniary penalties
› Agreed penalties
› Whether proposed penalty within appropriate range
› Deterrence as primary purpose
› Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), ss 45AB, 76(1), 76(1A)(b)
Competition Law
› Restrictive trade practices
› Understandings
› Elements of an understanding
› Requirement for consensus or meeting of minds
› Distinction from mere expectation
› Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), s 45(1)(a)
Quick Take
1An informal understanding to continue existing revenue share agreement terms — including platform-wide exclusivity provisions requiring all search access points on Android devices to default to a single general search engine — can contravene s 45(1)(a) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) where the provision is likely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition by hindering rival providers' ability to distribute their services.
2The 'substantially lessening competition' analysis under s 45(1)(a) compares the likely future state of competition with and without the impugned provision; where the counterfactual would have permitted competing providers increased opportunities to acquire preinstallation and default rights on mobile devices, the loss of that opportunity may be competitively meaningful even where the dominant provider's market share exceeds 95%.
