Google and Russia have been going back and forth on this case for the last two years. A case that was initially started all because a local search engine, Yandex, complained to local authorities about the issue. This started back in 2015 when a Russian watchdog group said pre-installing applications on Android was against the country’s laws. Google was given a deadline to comply with their laws even though they said the allegations were unfounded.
The two went back and forth for months and were unable to make any progress on the issue at that time. Google tried to appeal the ruling on two separate occasions and each time the country rejected the request. However, this week it has been announced that a deal has been made which will bring three separate changes to the way Android is handled in the country, and could be referenced in other anti-monopoly cases that Google faces around the world.
The first big change that will happen in Russia is that Google can no longer demand exclusivity of its applications on Android devices sold within the country. The second deal that Google agreed to is that it will no longer restrict the pre-installation of other applications (and this includes rival search engines as well). Lastly, as part of this deal Google says they will create a tool within Android devices sold in Russia that will let the user choose a default search engine.
Google has even come to a commercial agreement with the Russian search engine company Yandex which “provides new opportunities for Yandex to promote its search service within Chrome.” The deals made in this case are said to last 6 years and 9 months and still requires Google to pay a fines that total 439 million roubles (which is about $7.85 million at the current conversion rate).
Source: Reuters
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