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Russian authorities found Google guilty for violating competition laws

Russian authorities found Google guilty for violating competition laws. The authorities said the American search giant favors its own services in Android OS over those of rivals, including Yandex.

According to the FAS anti-monopoly body in Russia, Google could face penalties totalling up to 15 percent of its 2014 revenue in Russian market. They have violated the law by pre-installing many of its apps on Android devices.

Earlier this year, Yandex complained the Russian competition authority that smartphone manufacturers were not able to add its digital offerings in the Google’s Android OS. As a result of the complaint, the watchdog began investigating whether the American search giant unfairly bundled its services, like digital maps, in its Android OS.

Russian authorities found Google guilty and a Yandex spokesman said in a statement regarding it:

“We welcome the positive ruling of the Federal Antimonopoly Service. Although the European Commission has already begun a formal investigation in relation to these same practices, Russia is the first jurisdiction to have officially recognized these practices as anticompetitive.”

Yandex is Russia’s largest Internet Company, dominating over 50 percent of the online search market in Russia. According to report by data firm Statista, Google’s Android OS has more than 60 percent market share in Russia and Yandex’s app compete directly with Android’s official app.

According to an official statement by Russia’s competition regulator, it will disclose the decision details to the public within the next 10 days. The American search giant may appeal the ruling, but if the decision holds, Google may have to change the services included in its Android OS to comply with Russia’s competition rules otherwise they’ll have to pay fine.

Russian authorities found Google guilty for violating competition laws, but the American search giant has not given any official statement regarding it. Google has been in the crosshairs of regulators for the past few years. Recently, the European Union accused the Mountain View Company to favor its own shopping service over those of competitors.

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