Global Marketing News – 17th September 2015
Google guilty of abusing dominance in Russia
The Russian anti-monopoly regulator has found Google 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 these fears were well-founded, with the Russian regulator now having 10 working days to release its full findings.
Google may now have to change how it works with smartphone manufacturers, and allow other search engine apps to be preinstalled on Android smartphones. Google may also face a fine, although it is currently unclear whether this will be imposed and how much such a fine would be worth.
The search giant is currently facing similar charges in Europe, where it stands accused of deploying tactics to boost the ranking of its own Google Shopping price comparison services, whilst pushing rival services offered by competitors further down the search results by demoting the value of their links or simply refusing to list them altogether.
Muslims’ contribution to global economy forecasted
Research by Thomson Reuters and DSOA has revealed that Muslims’ contribution to the global online economy is expected to increase at an annual growth rate of 17% in 2020, faster than the expected global annual growth rate of 15%.
Muslims contributed 107 billion US dollars to the global online economy last year, accounting for almost 6% of the global online economy.
“Modest fashion” ecommerce websites, Islamic education apps, Halal food websites, Islamic banking, and food transportation and logistics were amongst the best performing Islamic digital categories, whilst Islamic social networks were less popular.
A spokesperson from Thomson Reuters commented on the study, saying: “The report reaffirms that Islamic digital economy has an integral part of everyday life, and indicates significant opportunity for growth in terms of business and innovation.”
Online ads to overtake TV ads in 3 years
Online ads could overtake TV ads within the next 3 years, according to research by ZenithOptimedia.
Online ads are expected to account for 34% of global ad spending in 2017 just behind TV ads at 36%, with online ads set to finally take the top spot in 2018.
The study also predicts that magazine and newspaper ad spending will decrease as online ads take over. Whilst magazines and newspapers accounted for 40% of ad spending in 2007, they are expected to account for just 17% by 2017.
When looking more closely at online spending, desktop ad spending is expected to decrease as mobile ad spending increases.
The US is expected to retain its spot at the top of the ad spending league table over the next 3 years, with China remaining in second place. The UK and Germany are expected to take third and fourth place respectively.
Baidu and CloudFlare team up to improve internet speeds
And finally, the Chinese tech company Baidu and the internet services company CloudFlare have joined forces to improve internet speeds.
The partnership means that foreign websites will now be able to load faster in China, and Chinese websites will also be able to load faster outside of the country.
Some foreign websites targeting China have reported that their sites are now loading six times faster than before.
While this is good news for foreign companies wanting to target China, businesses should be aware that they need to comply with China’s strict censorship laws.
China’s internet censorship laws ban pornographic and other “offensive” content, including “the spreading of rumours”.
Last year, China made it a criminal offence to broadcast any defamatory content online. A perpetrator can face up to 3 years imprisonment if the information has been viewed by 5,000 people or re-posted 500 times.
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Cal O'Connell
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