Russia Launches Antitrust Probe Against Google

Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has launched an investigation against Google.

FAS chief Igor Artemyev said it opened the probe on February 20 following a complaint made earlier this week by Russia's search engine provider Yandex.

Yandex had asked the FAS to investigate Google for unfairly keeping its rivals' services off its mobile devices.

Yandex, which has dominated the Russian market since its founding in 2000, wants to prevent Android phones from being automatically bundled with Google's search engine.

Google has made recent inroads in the Russian market thanks to its popular Android-powered smartphones.

The probe also comes as tensions between Russia and the West are at a post-Soviet high due to Russia's backing of separatists battling government troops in neighboring Ukraine.

Based on reporting by Interfax and AFP