Google is no stranger to facing legal trouble due to monopoly-like behavior, and now another country is hitting the company with those claims. According to a report from Reuters, Russia’s anti-monopoly agency on Monday revealed that Google is abusing its market position in the country and will face penalties. The case was initiated by Yandex, a popular search engine in Russia.
The FAS anti-monopoly body claims that Google has violated the law by pre-installing applications on mobile devices. Google could face fines of up to 15 percent of its 2014 revenue in Russia as punishment for its actions. In response to the claims, Google has simply said that it will analyze the decision.
Yandex, however, is much more vocal about the case, saying that the anti-monopoly body’s decision to punish Google will “restore competition on the market.” Currently, Yandex is the top search engine in Russia, but recently it has seen its traffic begin to fall as more and more people switch to Android-powered devices.
It added the complaint included the practice of bundling applications from Google Mobile Services with the Google Play store, requiring pre-installation of the Google search engine as the default and giving Google application icons preferential placement on the screen of mobile devices.
“In addition, the investigation confirmed the existence of agreements on prohibition of pre-installation of competitors’ apps,” Yandex said.
Google has been accused of several different anticompetitive practices in Europe over the last five years. Claims include that Google has been scrapping content from its competitors for use on its own services, displaying its services more prominently than others, and abusing its monopoly like power. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the EU is preparing to file antitrust charges against the company. Google and the EU have already tried to settle the investigation three times
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments