Yandex wins antitrust complaint against Google in Russia

Google has a direct rival in when it comes to Internet search in Russia. Yandex is a local search engine developed by the Russians that has recently found favor from the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service. A ruling was handed down, saying that an Android phone sold in Russia should not have any other Google’s products and apps pre-installed on the phone except for the Google Play Store. This one is expected to improve the standing of Yandex in the country as Google will no longer be a default service on Android devices.

Google has bundled most of its apps as default on Android phones and tablets, much to the chagrin of other companies like Yandex. The search engine filed a complaint against Google saying that it’s violating several anti-trust regulations. The said antitrust probe complaint was received by the Mountain View firm last February but it was only now that Russian authorities made a decision.

Because of this ruling in favor of Yandex, its stock surged up by 13 percent for a few hours. It’s good news compared to Yandex’s falling to 50 percent last August while Google continues to shoot up–from 34 to 42 percent.  No mention on what Google is required to do yet exactly but definitely the top search engine will be told to stop requiring Android device makers to pre-install Google services.

This issue is nothing new for Google as the EU also filed a similar case against the search engine earlier this year. According to the regulators, Google was unfairly favoring its own comparison shopping tool as it continues to harm consumers and stifle competition. The case isn’t over yet as the EU is still investigating if this bundled software strategy is really harming OEMs and other app developers.

VIA: Ars Technica

SOURCE: Bloomberg