OREANDA-NEWS. April 19, 2016. The European Union's watchdog arm is as worried as ever that Google's preinstalled apps on Android phones sway consumers away from alternatives.

Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition commissioner, voiced her concern Monday that Google and other enormous tech companies such as Amazon are stifling innovation. She also reiterated her commitment to putting consumers' needs first, having cracked down on Google earlier this decade for favoring its own shopping service in Internet search results.

Phones that run on Google's Android software come straight out of the box with a defined set of Google services such as a browser, search tool and maps app. The fact that the phones are ready to go from the start has its benefits, Vestager acknowledged in a speech Monday at the Consumer and Competition Day in Brussels. The downside is that consumers may not feel the need to seek out alternatives from Google's rivals.

"By requiring phone makers and operators to preload a set of Google apps, rather than letting them decide for themselves which apps to load, Google might have cut off one of the main ways that new apps can reach customers," Vestager said.

Investigations into the impact of Google's dominance in the mobile phone market and Amazon's dealings with ebook publishers are ongoing.