GigaOM Pro

The Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that federal antitrust officials from the FTC are investigating whether Google prevents manufacturers of Android handsets from using competitors’ services. That may seem like a worthy pursuit given Android’s increasing dominance in the mobile world, but Larry Dignan of ZDNet explains why the Android investigation is “likely to hit a dead end.” Dignan makes several good points, but the most important is that Android supports a wide variety of apps and services that compete directly with Google’s offerings. Heck, there are even multiple Android stores, including Amazon’s new app distribution channel. Other angles of the FTC’s investigation of Google may prove fruitful, but the probe into Android seems misguided.