Google Gets Slapped With A New Case From Russia's FAS

The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation declared that Google MUST adjust the required built-in apps that Androids ship with, in order to discourage monopoly and allow the consumer to choose whichever search engine they prefer. Since April 2015, the EU has filed anti-trust cases against Google, though today, Russia is adding fuel to the fire, so to speak.

Most Android users think nothing of the built-in Google search bar on their Androids, letting it be if they don’t use that, or making the most out of it, since unrooted Androids won’t allow its uninstallation anyway. But the European Union believes that its presence in newly-bought, straight-off-the-factory Androids constitutes an anti-trust violation, and one that promotes monopoly.

Russian mobile phone users predominantly use Android, with 65 per cent of the market using Android devices. In terms of search, Russia has its own search engine giant, which also provides other Internet-based services, such as mail, browser services, online shopping, online advertising, electronic payments, and even taxi services. Yandex, which serves Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Turkey, has a usage market share of over 60 per cent in Russia, and over 43 per cent in Belarus.

In spite of the fact that the Internet service company enjoys a majority in terms of usage, apparently, the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation (FAS) still wants to further Yandex’s interests by ensuring that Google won’t take a chunk out of Yandex’s traffic on mobile. Given the fact that Androids ship with Google’s search bar pre-installed, Google as the default search choice might be eating up on Yandex’s search shares on mobile.

It is a fact that the use of mobile devices now exceeds the use of personal computers. Search Engine Watch reported that mobile Internet use had exceeded PC usage in July 2014. By 2015, most of Internet users spend more time on their mobile devices, though the majority use both PC’s and mobile platforms. It is no surprise, though, that Russia’s FAS recognizes these developments and wants Russian born and maintained Yandex to have a slice of the mobile pie—by strong-arming Google to drop the use of their in-house search bar as the default on Androids. Of course, this move aims to give “other search engines,” namely Yandex, possibilities of gaining more traffic from the mobile platform.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation aims to slap Google with as much as 15 per cent of the revenue from the preinstalled apps. According to Morgan Stanley via , revenue from Russia makes up for 1 per cent of Google’s annual income, or around US$560 million.

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"Androids Of The Future Will Grow Increasingly Bloatware-Free": https://www.droidreport.com/androids-future-will-grow-increasingly-bloatware-free-11331

More on the report:

https://recode.net/2015/10/05/russia-to-google-unbundle-android-or-else/

https://recode.net/2015/09/14/russian-watchdog-says-google-is-violating-competition-law/

https://www.fas.gov.ru/fas-news/fas-news_37054.html

More on the EU vs. Google:

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/business/international/european-union-google-antitrust-case.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/28/technology/google-eu-competition.html

More on search engine stats:

From Search Engine Watch: https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/opinion/2353616/mobile-now-exceeds-pc-the-biggest-shift-since-the-internet-began

From Smart Insights: https://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/