Regulators raid Google's South Korea office

[dorkiilove.livejournal.com]

(Reuters) - Antitrust officials in South Korea raided Google Inc's Seoul offices on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the matter, expanding worldwide regulatory pressure on the Internet giant.

Google, the world's No. 1 search engine, is under investigation by antitrust authorities in the United States and in Europe.

The source, who asked not be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said officials from the Korean Fair Trade Commission went into Google's offices on Tuesday morning and planned to return on Wednesday morning.

In April, South Korea's top Internet portals filed a complaint with antitrust regulators alleging that Google was unfairly stifling competition in the mobile search market.

In their joint complaint, NHN Corp and Daum Communications Corp said Android smartphones have Google's search engine installed as a default navigation tool and are "systematically designed" to make it virtually impossible to switch to another option.

Google said in a statement on Tuesday that it does not require manufacturers of mobile phones that use its Android software to include Google search or other Google applications on the devices.

Google also said it would work with the Korean Fair Trade Commission to address any questions it may have about the company's business.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz and Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Richard Chang)

cr; reuters

Comments

[yolleh.livejournal.com]

This isn't the first time google's Seoul office has been raided is it?

[hzuki.livejournal.com]

Why raid if Google already said they can just go in?
It'd be like raiding a castle but the front door is already open.

[dorkiilove.livejournal.com]

maybe they have a flair for the dramatic

[hzuki.livejournal.com]

Oh South Koreans, everything must be like a drama (￣ー￣)

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

lol

[ari-meh.livejournal.com]

i actually wanted to change it on my iphone..
but just because i bought it in china and it always uses google hong kong to search stuff -__-

[ltsephiroth.livejournal.com]

I find this rather funny. Google DOES more or less have a monopoly as far as search engines go. But they don't ACTUALLY have one because bing, and yahoo, and msn, and everything else are still running and being used. If you're gonna blame someone, blame the manufacturer of the phone for setting it up to be virtually impossible to change. SMH @ USA, Europe, S.K.

[jetaime-pyon.livejournal.com]

daum being butthurt lol. i still have to rely on it because google won't give me the korean results that i need.. especially daum maps! and it's same probably with other people! i know most of my friends would use daum or naver over google.

but can someone explain please? what is antitrust authority?