South Korea’s competition regulator has accused Google of abusing its dominant position in the Android app market, and signalled it will recommend corrective measures and a financial penalty.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission said on Wednesday that its Market Surveillance Bureau found conduct affecting 14.16 trillion won, or roughly $9.1bn, in relevant revenue, according to Reuters.
At the centre of the case is a scheme Google called “Project Hug” internally, formally the Games or Google Velocity Program.
From July 2019 to March 2026, the KFTC alleges, Google offered game developers financial support tied to services such as Cloud, Ads, and YouTube, on the condition that they launched titles on Play on terms at least as favourable as any rival store.
The contracts were structured to reward loyalty. Support increased as developers generated more revenue through Play, which the watchdog says sharpened the incentive to prioritise Google’s marketplace over competitors.
