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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: 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.