Maybe the Turkish government could put this money into a fund that companies based there can use to create open source software to de-Google Android in response.
At least no one will be able to say then that there is no competition issues.
The real obstacle to degoogled mobile OS's is not software (AOSP exists, pmOS will become usable soon, etc. etc.) but access to online services of all sorts. Google Play is a focal point for distributing the official "app" for your online service of choice. But if a whole country goes Google-free this can definitely change.
In practice, without access to Google Play people just use third party app stores like F-Droid or just download the apk from the web like on a normal computer. It really doesn't seem like that much of a loss for Turkey.
You would have to force Android manufacturers to also provide Google free versions of their products. One only has to look at Microsofts history to see that backroom deals will keep alternatives of the table unless forced.
When Google was hit with a fine in the EU for the same reason they just added a new licensing region with alternative licensing terms. It is interesting to see how Google behaves when it thinks the power balance is reversed.
In other words: Google is aware it can't take on the EU, but thinks it's strong enough take on Turkey.
It'll be interesting to see how this works out. I have no love for the current regime in Turkey, but I wouldn't mind seeing this blow up in Google's face. We need a more open Android.
In both cases Google chose to follow the law of the region.
In one of those cases, it was most profitable to continue selling under the constraints imposed by the law and in the other case it wasn't profitable to do so.
It's creating a large market for Google alternatives on Android. Those alternatives are currently tiny, but might get big in Turkey, and then expand outside Turkey.
There is already a big market called China that entirely use alternative solution. I guess those company in China will be more than happy to take over once Google leave.
Initially I wondered if this was some kind of smokescreen, or a public response to some private action that wasn't liked.
But thinking about it... maybe it's simpler, and Google are just unimpressed someone's having a go at them for being anticompetitive. In which case this action is very concerning, because it says "yeah, we're it and we know it. Deal with it." That has significant chilling-effect potential.
Because I'm not seeing any evidence or suggestion of corruption here, but rather an interest in establishing truth.
The second option seems more likely.
The more concerning thing is how Google is starting to use its power when it isn't happy with something.
Google doesn't even seem to care about appearing "friendly" or harmless as it used to do. It's now acting like a king without a rival.. when it can.
The good thing is that this suggests they've apparently hit the complacency plateau that everybody large seems to hit that marks their modus-operandi as "set in stone". The sad thing is that they're the only company with (presumably - but if you think about it...) multiple exabytes of RAM to hold a greppable copy of the Internet in, so nobody's realistically going to beat them at the game anytime soon D:
Also, I was going to say but forgot (was on mobile) - this was an anticompetitivity investigation, and that was why I said their attitude of "yes we are indeed 'it'" was so concerning. Kind of like, "whatcha gonna do about it, huh?"
Are you surprised that a megacorporation is acting like a megacorporation? What's the alternative, forcing Google to sell their products? How would you even achieve that?
The arguments of anti-competitive behaviour are probably correct. Unfortunately Turkey is not a good example because their justice system lacks credibility in general. One would hope that a more credible player like EU or at least Germany or France really stands up against Google.
Yes, I know that there are legal proceedings. And Google has been fined and is appealing. However, the impact for the customer has been neglectable. You cannot do banking on your phone, you cannot buy a public transit ticket or a fishing permit without Google Play Store or some serious hacking. (Apple is an alternative, but not one respecting your freedom any better).
A lot of people across the world are trying to figure out how to de-Googlify their Android phones. Now all of Turkey is suddenly forced to de-Googlify their phones. Let's hope that encourages reliable alternatives to Google Play services.
It looks like more and more countries are starting to have very good reasons to partner with Huawei. It's not the kind of freedom of choice I hoped for, but it's probably better than the current duopoly.
Problem is that the leadership at Google/Apple has to publicly agree with western values. If they really believe in them or not I don't know. To some degree there is an incentive to respect e.g. human rights.
The leadership at Huawei has to be very careful if they want to state agreement or acceptance of western values. That might even put them into prison. If they dare to act on western values in their own country they might be killed.
I personally prefer the company which at least has to act as if they value my humanity than the one which outright would strip it from me anytime as there is no incentive at all to consider it.
