Alphabet (GOOGL, Financials) is under renewed regulatory pressure after South Korea's antitrust regulator accused Google of using its dominance in the Android app market to make it harder for rival app stores to compete.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said its investigation found Google's conduct affected about 14.16 trillion won, or roughly $9.1 billion, in revenue. The agency has recommended corrective measures and a financial penalty, though the case has not yet reached a final decision.
At the center of the investigation is a developer incentive program that ran from July 2019 through March 2026. According to the regulator, Google offered financial support for services such as Google Cloud, Google Ads and YouTube to game developers that agreed to launch their titles on Google Play under terms at least as favorable as competing app stores.
The KFTC argues those incentives gave developers little reason to distribute games through rival platforms, including South Korea's OneStore, strengthening Google's position in the Android app ecosystem.
Google pushed back against the claims, saying Google Play competes fairly and provides value to both developers and consumers. The company said it has fully cooperated with the investigation and intends to present its case before the commission.
Google has eight weeks to respond to the examiner's report. If the KFTC concludes the company violated competition law, it could impose a fine of up to 6% of the revenue tied to the alleged conduct.