Google Under Antritrust Probe By US FTC Over Android: Report

Google Inc. is said to be under investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, this time over its Android operating system, with which the company bundles other products such as its Chrome Web browser and Google Maps, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing two anonymous sources with knowledge of the probe.

The FTC reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to lead the probe to determine if Google stifled competition by favoring its products and services by bundling them with the Android operating system, Bloomberg reported.

Worldwide, Android is the most dominant smartphone operating system today, with over 95 percent of handsets sold in markets such as India -- the third biggest smartphone market -- running on one version of it or another. Google is facing similar probes led by competition watchdogs in the European Union and India over the Internet company's search dominance.

In the U.S., Android has a 59.3 percent market share, Bloomberg reported, citing market researcher IDC, with Apple Inc.'s iOS making up almost all of the rest.

Some technology companies were skeptical of the latest FTC inquiry as the commission closed a probe into whether Google abused its dominance of Internet search without bringing a case, two years ago, Bloomberg reported. The latest probe was at a preliminary stage and no case might yet be bought against Google, according to the report.