Google fined for breaking Russian antitrust rules with Android

New York

RUSSIAN antitrust officials fined Google US$6.8 million on Thursday, a relatively small penalty that nevertheless represents the latest in a growing list of global regulatory problems for the US search giant.

Russian authorities ruled last year that Google had abused its market position with Android, its mobile operating system, by favouring some of its digital services over those of rivals, including the Russian company Yandex.

As part of its ruling, the Federation Anti-Monopoly Service said Google's rivals had not been able to include their own offerings, like digital maps or search, into the Android operating system that powers a majority of smartphones and other mobile devices in Russia. In a statement on Thursday, the agency said Russia's competition rules applied to all companies operating in the country, including foreign ones. Google denies breaking Russian competition rules. The Silicon Valley company is still appealing the Android case in Russia, which was opened last year after Yandex complained that its services for Android were being treated unfairly.

In much of the world, Google has come to dominate. But it has failed so far to do so in Russia, where Yandex retains more than 50 per cent of the market, according to industry statistics.

Margrethe Vestager, the European Union's top antitrust official, charged Google in April with unfairly using Android to promote its own services - like Google Maps and Google Search - over those of its rivals.

European Union officials have also charged the company in a separate competition case, accusing it of favouring some of its search services over those of rivals. They filed a third set of charges in July linked to Google search services offered to third-party websites, like newspapers and online retailers.

Google denies wrongdoing in those cases, saying that it competes on equal terms with companies like Yelp and Microsoft, among others. It also says that cellphone makers are free to use Android-based services provided by rivals. Google does not make money directly from licensing the mobile operating system to companies, but it takes a cut from advertisements displayed on online searches. NYT