14 DAY TRIAL // Google has been having troubles in Russia for the last year. First, Russian Minister of Communication Nikolai Nikiforov openly attacked Google’s policies on his private Twitter page, claiming unfair monopoly over the mobile market via Android.
Afterwards, Russian search company Yandex (Russia’s biggest search giant) has filed a complaint with the authorities accusing Google of trying to force third-party device manufacturers to make its own search engine the default option.
On top of that, if third-party OEMs want to be given access to the Google Play Store (which is basically a must if you want customers buying your stuff), they have to include more Google applications like Gmail, Google Search, Maps and so on.
But Yandex wants to substitute them with its own versions of Google’s services and keep the Play store accessibility intact. Such a maneuver will probably unleash the advent of phones which lack a coherent app ecosystem, but apparently in Russia this doesn’t seem to be a problem.
Google's position in Russia is a shaky one
Now, according to a report coming out of Re/Code, the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) has made a ruling in favor of Yandex. A little bit predictable, but nevertheless.
The Russian search engine company has acknowledged the verdict saying it is very pleased with the decision that will hopefully “restore competition on the market.” But Yandex is already the market leader in Russia, so its aim is probably to prevent Google from getting too cozy in the country.
So what does this ruling signify for Google? The search giant will apparently be made to pay a fine, but the amount is not known for now. This will be decided in the upcoming weeks. FAS has also warned Google that additional penalties will be imposed if the search giant doesn’t abstain from requesting its apps to be bundled by default on Russian Android devices.
Google has yet to say anything about the problem, but it’s a pretty big deal that the company’s entire licensing model has been ruled illegal in the country. In all possibility, other local competitors might follow in Yandex’s footsteps and attack Google in their home courts.
Is the search giant doomed to lose one market after another?