- Following intense criticism of the deal, the EU will likely revisit parts of its search antitrust settlement with Google (GOOG +1.3%), the WSJ reports. A decision on the matter is expected in September, ahead of antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia's November departure.
- In addition, the EU plans to investigate Google's practices in other areas, including (most notably) its Android licensing terms for mobile OEMs. A formal Android investigation is considered likely.
- The EU has already been studying the licensing terms, which require a variety of Google apps/services to be bundled with its version of Android. The bundling is pivotal to Google's Android monetization strategy.
- An EU ruling freeing OEMs from having to bundle Google apps/services might not have a big impact on installation rates (given their popularity with consumers), but it could give OEMs more leverage negotiate higher traffic acquisition payments. Google is believed to make huge traffic acquisition payments to Apple in exchange for having Android act as Safari's default search engine.