Google faces potential antitrust investigation in RussiaFebruary 18, 2015 - 16:23 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Google is facing a potential antitrust investigation by Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service following a complaint by Russian competitor Yandex, according to Business Insider. Yandex, also a search engine, is angry that Google's search tool comes already installed on Android mobile devices. That's because smartphone makers are forced to install Google Search — along with other Google apps — if they want the Google Play store to come standard on phones. As a result, Yandex alleges that "device manufacturers are increasingly prohibited from installing any services from Google's competitors on their devices." Manufacturers Prestigo, Fy, and Explay have all "notified [Yandex] in the course of 2014 that they are no longer able to pre-install Yandex services on their Android devices". Yandex is pushing to have Google's Search spun out from the rest of the company. "Google should not prevent manufacturers from preinstalling competitor apps," a Yandex spokesperson told TechCrunch. "This is why we are talking about the need to unbundle Google's Android operating system from Google Search and its over end-user services." Although Google dominates the European market, with a 90% plus search share, it has an acrimonious relationship with authorities. In November 2014, the European Parliament actually voted to break up the company and spin off Google's Search arm because of "anti-competitive behavior." The vote was non-binding, but it illustrates the level of distrust for the search giant on the continent. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Armenian, Azerbaijani heads of parliament meet in Switzerland President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Border residents overnight on highway to protest Armenia’s Residents of Kirants continue to express outrage over the government’s decision to cede land to Azerbaijan. Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. |