India, Aug. 19 -- Google has agreed to pay a fine of US $36 million or around Rs.300 crore in Australia after admitting to anti-competitive arrangements that limited search engine choices on smartphones. Google made deals with Telstra and Optus-- leading telcos in Australia-- to ensure its search engine was pre-installed on Android smartphones.

The arrangements, active between December 2019 and March 2021, restricted the telcos from offering any alternative search engines on devices sold to customers. In return, Google shared a portion of the advertising revenue generated through searches made on those phones.The case was brought forward by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which alleged that Google struck deals ...