The Moscow Times reports that Russian Internet giant Yandex has filed a complaint against Google at the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service, alleging that its rival has an unfair advantage because it insists that Android device manufacturers set Google as the default search engine if they want to bundle Google Play. Google has yet to respond. From the article:
The regulator now has one month to consider the request from Yandex, Russia's top search engine and provider of a range of digital services, such as Yandex.Maps and Yandex.Music, a music streaming service.
Yandex's head of product distribution, Yury Vecher, wrote on news website Slon.ru that the company lodged the complaint after finding it impossible to have its services — which mirror those of Google's, but are often better tailored for the Russian market — installed on Android devices sold in Russia.
Yandex seems to want Google to unbundle Google search and its native apps from Android in the same way that EU regulators had forced Microsoft to unbundle Internet Explorer from Windows. There are also similar antitrust efforts by Microsoft and others concentrating on the EU.
Other coverage of the complaint is available from the BBC, TechCrunch, and Bloomberg.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Gravis on Friday February 20 2015, @03:49PM
it's a shitty thing to do but I dont think it's worthy of an anti-trust suit. you can make your own android distro with your own search engine of choice and leave google completely out of the mix. google play effectively has a clause saying if you bundle google play with Android, you have to have google as the default search engine, not the only search engine, just the default. the difference here is that they are not forced to include google play.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by GungnirSniper on Friday February 20 2015, @03:59PM
Which is better than Microsoft used to do (still does?) with its icon placement, default bookmarks, and look and feel requirements.
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by q.kontinuum on Friday February 20 2015, @04:11PM
Only, Google Play also has a quasi-monopoly on Android-devices. Yandex has not option to compete by search quality because the device-manufacturers have to install Google Play to have competitive devices. So Google uses the extremely strong market position in one area to fight of competitors in a basically unrelated area.
Admittedly Googles smartphone-marketshare is not as extreme as Microsofts desktop-marketshare was.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Friday February 20 2015, @07:17PM
There are third party markets (amazon) and third party installers for Android.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/android-app-stores/ [digitaltrends.com]
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by TheRealMike on Friday February 20 2015, @10:19PM
On one hand, yes.
On the other hand, how do you expect Android development to be funded? The traditional way to do this would be for Android to be entirely closed source, require very expensive licenses and STILL have forced Play Store lockin. Probably with no installation outside the store allowed.
Android is given away for free, specifically to help get users onto Google's services. If they can't do that, perhaps the end result is ... no Android at all? Then what will Yandex do? Ask Microsoft to use them on Windows Phone instead of Bing?
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Friday February 20 2015, @11:54PM
Google provides great search- and email-services, and I think they can win the Russian market as well by improving their local offer there. World-wide most handset-producers *want* to install Google Play because it is the biggest market-place available. They *want* to install Google Mail because it integrates well with the market place. Google can make lots of money that way. They do not depend on keeping the Russian market tied in by force. I think Google is losing it by destroying their reputation. They used to convince people by competence, now they are using pure muscle.
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(Score: 1) by Cheburator2 on Friday February 20 2015, @06:35PM
The problem is not only in the default search engine. Manufacturers were prohibited to install competing services at all, and that included Yandex apps for maps, music, taxi, etc, not only search.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday February 20 2015, @07:23PM
That has not been true for a LONG long time.
My unlocked (non-carrier) HTC M8 came with some lame ass third party mapping apps.
Manufacturers can install anything their purchasers want. You buy 100,000 phones you can get them pretty much any way you want.
Google does not control Android that tightly.
Search engine apps are very common - see the app store. Go search the App store and see how many Yandex Apps there are.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by Cheburator2 on Saturday February 21 2015, @10:37PM
That's what you say. "Yandex said that three of its smartphone vendor partners -- Prestigio, Fly and Explay -- told it last year that they were no longer able to preinstall Yandex services on their Android devices due to Google's policy" (quoting CNET). Google is rumored to apply pressure to device makers as they see fit, so I see no reason not to trust Yandex here.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday February 20 2015, @04:07PM
Google doesn't actually have monopoly power in the mobile handset software market, thanks to Apple. Also, last I checked it was possible to have an Android device without Google Play. By contrast, when Microsoft got sued for bundling Internet Explorer, they had a much higher market share and were requiring the installation and default use of Internet Explorer for your system to be usable at all (this was the mid-1990s, before the Linux desktop was anywhere close to the fairly strong offering it is today). For many anti-trust rules to apply, you have to be an effective monopoly.
That said, I hope they win, because more competition is good for users.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 20 2015, @05:23PM
One still cannot remove IE from Windows. All you can do is not make it default browser.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 20 2015, @07:30PM
But it's not because MSFT can screw you over that it's ok for google to screw you over too...
I think the legality test should be replaced with the Dick Test (TM): if it were a person doing this to you, would you think that the person is a dick?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Friday February 20 2015, @05:49PM
Since every single thing that Yandex offers was stolen from Google, (right down to the bugs and some of the programmers) its pretty amazing that they now need to go to court to have the rest of jewel cases unlocked for them to complete the heist.
They used to be content to hide behind Russian law while running stolen Google code.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by Cheburator2 on Friday February 20 2015, @06:38PM
Do you have sources for such accusations? They sound a little bit made-up.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Friday February 20 2015, @07:56PM
Plenty. I've been following Yandex for several years. (I even have an email account and a yandex drive account there).
(I have no illusion of privacy on Yandex, it has very close ties to the Russian government.)
http://siliconangle.com/blog/2012/10/01/yandex-rips-off-googles-tech-then-declares-war/ [siliconangle.com]
In fact the people from Yandex so aggressively try to downplay this fact that they have a huge stack of slides that any Journalist that visits their office has to sit through showing that they invented the search engine sometime before world war II.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Cheburator2 on Saturday February 21 2015, @10:46PM
Well, forking open source browser is not called "stealing", and even copying some design is not stealing. All major software companies do it. Mac OS => Windows, iOS => Android, Google Maps => Apple Maps, Windows Phone & Android => newer iOS versions. And yes, Yandex search was there before Google, and yes, they hire the most brilliant minds in Russia, but that doesn't matter. They don't "steal" anymore than Google, Microsoft & Apple.