Global Marketing News – 7th October 2015
Google ordered to end monopoly on Android search in Russia
The Russian anti-monopoly regulator has ordered Google to unbundle its search app from its Android operating system after being found guilty of “abusing its dominant market position” in the Russian mobile market.
In February of this year, the search engine Yandex asked the regulator to investigate Google over whether its Android operating system was unfairly blocking other search engines on Android phones.
Google is set as the default search engine on all Android phones, and handset manufacturers are unable to preinstall alternative search providers.
With Android being the most popular operating system in Russia, accounting for 86% of all Russian smartphones, Yandex was concerned that Google’s practices were unfair and illegal under Russia’s antitrust laws.
The guilty ruling means that these fears were well-founded, with the Russian regulator now having ordered Google to change how it works with smartphone manufacturers, and allow other search engine apps to be preinstalled on Android smartphones.
In a statement, the Russian regulator said: “To restore competition on the market, Google should amend agreements with mobile-device producers within a month and exclude the anti-competitive clauses.”
Yandex also commented on the development, saying: “We hope that the FAS’s ruling will help to restore fair competition on the market, but to what extent will depend on how this ruling will be executed.”
Ecommerce trends in Croatia and Slovenia revealed
Research by Ceneje Group has revealed ecommerce trends in Croatia and Slovenia.
The research found that Croatians are more likely to shop at foreign retail sites than Slovenians, possibly because the domestic ecommerce market is more developed in Slovenia.
Half of Slovenians who shop online buy solely from Slovenian sites, with a further 30% saying that they do the majority of their online shopping on Slovenian sites.
Just 10% do all their online shopping on foreign sites, with a further 10% saying they do the majority of their online shopping on foreign sites.
In contrast, 20% of Croatians do all their online shopping on foreign sites, with a further quarter doing most of their online shopping on foreign sites.
The study commented these findings, saying: “From this data it is evident that the users of the Croatian portal recognise foreign online retailers as relevant, and for them shopping abroad represents no major obstacles.”
28% follow up TV adverts on smartphones in South East Asia
28% of smartphone owners in South East Asia use their smartphones to follow up adverts they see on TV, according to research by Epinion and Omnicom Media Group.
The research found that 82% of smartphone owners in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam use their smartphones whilst watching TV, with 47% searching for information relating to the TV programme, 28% searching for information relating to an advert, and the rest searching for information completely unrelated to what is on TV.
Out of those who search for information relating to an advert, around half search for a brand or product, around a third share brand or product information with friends, and the remainder communicate directly with brands.
American city government opens Weibo account for Chinese residents
And finally, government officials in the American city of San Gabriel have opened a Weibo account to help connect with the city’s large Chinese immigrant population.
Weibo is one of the most popular social networks in China, with around 212 million monthly active users, and is a micro-blogging platform similar to Twitter.
A spokesperson from San Gabriel’s local government explained the decision to open a Weibo account, saying: “A lot of the cities, especially in our area, have a really large Chinese-speaking population, and Facebook and Twitter just don’t cut it anymore.”
The response has been described as “overwhelming”, with the account attracting almost 2,000 followers within the first 24 hours. It now has as many followers as the city officials’ Facebook page, which has been up for several years.
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