Google Asia Pacific has today been ordered by the Federal Court to pay $55 million in penalties for engaging in anti-competitive conduct when it reached understandings with Telstra and Optus about pre-installing Google Search on Android mobile phones. The Court proceedings were brought by the ACCC.

The understandings, which were in place between December 2019 and March 2021, required Telstra and Optus to only pre-install Google Search on Android phones they sold to consumers, and not other search engines.

In return, Telstra and Optus received a share of the revenue Google generated from ads displayed to consumers when they used Google Search on their Android phones.

Google cooperated with the ACCC and admitted that it had engaged in anti-competitive conduct that had the likely effect of substantially lessening competition and also made joint submissions with the ACCC in relation to penalties.

“This penalty should send a strong message to all businesses that there are serious and costly consequences for engaging in anti-competitive conduct,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

“Our market economy is predicated on businesses competing freely with each other, which is why locking out competing businesses in a way that substantially lessens competition is illegal.”

In addition to the $55m in penalties imposed by the Court, on 18 August 2025 Google and the US-based Google LLC provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking in which they committed to removing certain pre-installation and default search engine restrictions from Google’s contracts with Android phone manufacturers and telcos.

Google’s undertaking is in addition to court-enforceable undertakings provided by Telstra, Optus and TPG last year. The ACCC accepted the undertakings from the three telcos to resolve concerns about their involvement in these agreements with Google.

In the court-enforceable undertakings provided by Telstra, Optus and TPG, the telcos undertook not to renew or make new arrangements with Google that require its search services to be pre-installed and set as the default search function on an exclusive basis on Android devices they supply.

The three telcos can configure search services on a device-by-device basis, and in ways that may not align with the settings set by Google. They can also enter into pre-installation agreements with other search providers.

“Today’s outcome, combined with the undertakings from Google and the telcos, creates the potential for millions of Australians to have greater search choice in the future. Other search tools, including those enhanced by artificial intelligence, can now compete with Google for pre-installation on Android phones,” Mr Keogh said.

“Search tools, including those that incorporate AI, are rapidly changing how we search for information, and it’s critical that competitors to Google can gain meaningful exposure to Australian consumers.”