Anti-trust complaints have plagued Google in the U.S. -- now Russia has complaints of its own.
Many countries’ anti-trust standards forbid “bundling,” the practice of packaging offerings together to pre-empt consumers from using competing products or services.
In Russia, the country’s anti-monopoly agency FAS gave Google until November 18 to answer charges that the company’s Android operating system for mobile devices includes pre-installed apps intended to bypass local competitors, according to Reuters.
The complaint against Google was filed by the Russian company Yandex, which has led Google in the country but is seeing its market share slip as more Russians are purchasing Android-based smart phones that come loaded with competing Google apps.
The European Commission is already investigating complaints that Google unduly influences internet search results to favor its offerings. Other countries will be watching the Russian situation and possibly evaluating their options against the company.
In the U.S., several competitors have asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate certain Google Android deals. An FTC investigation of anti-trust issues involving Google’s search engine ended in 2013 with the company making some adjustments to its practices.
In Russia, Google stands to lose as much as 15 percent of its 2014 mobile app revenue if it fails to adequately address the Yandex complaint. A company spokesman said that Google was still studying the FAS report.
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