14 DAY TRIAL // Russia is often described as the country that hosts the largest amount of illegal activity, starting with spammers and ending with software pirates. However, numerous companies tried to invest in Russia and increase their presence in the country. Google makes a similar move today and launches the Russian version of Maps, making the mapping tool available to all the residents in their mother language. It is quite a memorable event, because the Russian authorities refused to allow this kind of utilities in the past as they are able to show a lot of details.
The Moscow Times wrote that Russia raised privacy concerns since 2005 when Google Earth was officially launched. The main reason for these complaints was that Google's downloadable mapping tool contains well-developed functions that might show a too many pictures, representing a real threat for the residents of the country.
"The Google map services is a very convenient service that allows quick and easy access to local cartographic information," said Vladimir Dolgov, head of Google Russia for The Moscow Times. "It works with the Russian language via any Internet connection method."
The most interesting aspect of this Google evolution is that the Russian largest portal, Yandex, is already offering a map solution that is used by a considerable number of users every day. Although Google is the clear favorite to win the competition, the Yandex representatives sustained they are not afraid because new investments will be done soon.
"There is no pressure on us from Google as far as map services are concerned. But the fact that their portal now works in Russian might change the situation," Yandex editor Yelena Kolmanovskaya said for the same source.
This case is somehow similar to the Google Chinese expansion when the Mountain View company encountered the opposition of Baidu, the local leader that managed to attract the majority of users.