A number of Google’s major competitors, including Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, TripAdvisor, and others, have filed a formal complaint with the European Commission. They allege that Google has been abusing its position in mobile advertising as a result of the success of the Android operating system.

“Google is using its Android mobile operating system as a ‘Trojan Horse’ to deceive partners, monopolize the mobile marketplace, and control consumer data,” said Thomas Vinje, Brussels-based counsel to the FairSearch coalition, in a statement. The group points to the fact that one industry analysis firm, eMarketer, finds that Google has a near-monopoly on mobile search ads.

“We are asking the Commission to move quickly and decisively to protect competition and innovation in this critical market," Vinje added. "Failure to act will only embolden Google to repeat its desktop abuses of dominance as consumers increasingly turn to a mobile platform dominated by Google’s Android operating system.”

The Commission has not yet indicated whether it will investigate this new complaint. European authorities already have a pending antitrust inquiry over search results, and the two parties are currently negotiating a settlement, as we reported earlier this year.

"It may seem obvious, but people sometimes forget this—not every website can come out on top, or even appear on the first page of our results, so there will almost always be website owners who are unhappy about their rankings," wrote two Google vice presidents on the company's European Public Policy Blog in November 2010.

In July 2012, the EU’s executive body appeared to be getting close to a settlement with Google.