Google to pay $36 million penalty for anti-competitive agreements with Australian telecommunications companies
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Aug 18 2025
0mins
Should l Buy GOOGL?
Source: Reuters
Google's Fine in Australia: Google has agreed to pay a A$55 million ($35.8 million) fine after the Australian consumer watchdog found it engaged in anti-competitive practices by paying major telcos to pre-install its search app on Android devices, limiting competition from rival search engines.
Legal Challenges: This fine comes amid ongoing legal challenges for Google in Australia, including a recent court ruling against it in a lawsuit filed by Epic Games regarding restrictions on rival application stores.
Impact on Competition: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) stated that Google's agreements with Telstra and Optus significantly impacted competition, but Google has since ceased similar arrangements and is committed to enhancing search options for users.
Future Cooperation: Both Google and the ACCC have submitted the fine agreement to the Federal Court for approval, indicating a collaborative approach to resolving regulatory concerns without prolonged litigation.
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Analyst Views on GOOGL
Wall Street analysts forecast GOOGL stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for GOOGL is 338.25 USD with a low forecast of 279.00 USD and a high forecast of 390.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
34 Analyst Rating
27 Buy
7 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 322.860
Low
279.00
Averages
338.25
High
390.00
Current: 322.860
Low
279.00
Averages
338.25
High
390.00
About GOOGL
Alphabet Inc. is a holding company. The Company's segments include Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. The Google Services segment includes products and services such as ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Google Maps, Google Play, Search, and YouTube. The Google Cloud segment includes infrastructure and platform services, collaboration tools, and other services for enterprise customers. Its Other Bets segment is engaged in the sale of healthcare-related services and Internet services. Its Google Cloud provides enterprise-ready cloud services, including Google Cloud Platform and Google Workspace. Google Cloud Platform provides access to solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, including its AI infrastructure, Vertex AI platform, and Gemini for Google Cloud; cybersecurity, and data and analytics. Google Workspace includes cloud-based communication and collaboration tools for enterprises, such as Calendar, Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Meet.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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