On Sept 14, Monday, search giant Google has been found guilty of monopoly charges filed by Russian competitor, Yandex. The U.S.-based search company has faced similar complaints over the past couple of months this year and has been brought to court because of allegations of skewing search results and stifling competition in different countries.
Now, in Russia, FAS, the anti-monopoly body in the country, has found that the search major has violated the law. According to a report from Money Control, Google has broken the law by pre-loading its own apps on mobile devices, thereby stifling other apps in the mobile market. The company will be facing penalties amounting to about 15 percent of its revenues last year.
FAS has not disclosed the amount as of yet but said that the body will make its final decision regarding the fine on Sept 28. Google Russia has said that it will look further into the situation before it gives other comments about it. FAS said that after paying the fine, the search giant should play fair in a competition or it will have to pay more fines for violating the law.
Yandex filed the case against Google in Feb this year. The Russian search engine has commented on the ruling saying, "We believe that the FAS decision will serve to restore competition in the market." The company is the largest search service in Russia, but it has faced tough competition against the international search giant. The Russian company made headlines early this year as it appealed for market intervention following the stifling competition.
Google has faced similar allegations of stifling rival networks in India and Europe. India has accused the search giant of abusing search dominance. The complaints have been filed on India's competition commission, and Google has been expected to issue a response to it last Thursday, Sept 10. The search giant has not been reported to have issued the statement as of yet.
