South Korea antitrust regulator accuses Google of app abuse

South Korea's antitrust regulator has formally accused Google of abusing its market dominance to stifle competition in the Android app marketplace, recommending corrective measures and a significant financial penalty. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced the findings of its Market Surveillance Bureau on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, following a probe into the company's practices.

The case centers on an initiative Google internally called "Project Hug," formally known as the Games or Google Velocity Program. The KFTC alleges that from July 2019 through March 2026, Google offered financial incentives to domestic and international game developers. These incentives, tied to the use of Google services like Cloud, Ads, and YouTube, were conditional on the developers launching their games on the Google Play Store on terms at least as favorable as those offered to rival platforms.

Regulators state the agreements were structured to reward loyalty, with support increasing as developers generated more revenue through Play. This arrangement, the KFTC contends, sharply incentivized developers to prioritize Google's marketplace over competitors, such as South Korea's domestic OneStore...