Antitrust authorities in Russia hit Google this morning with a fine of around $6.8 million — what the company brought in, roughly, in the time it took me to make my coffee and write this post.
Russia fines Google less than what the company makes in an hour
It comes three days after authorities there opened a case against Apple.
Lintao Zhang / Getty
Google reported $21.3 billion in gross revenue last quarter.
Still, Russia’s gesture is more damning to Google than the fine. It’s another dent from an onslaught of regulatory probes into the web giant for anticompetitive behavior. Russia’s case, like one (of three) in Europe, hinges on Google’s practice of installing its Play store apps and services on Android devices.
Unlike other countries, Russia has a viable Google competitor on web search, Yandex, which has pushed authorities to curb Android pre-installs. Google’s also not the only U.S. company in Russian cross-hairs: Earlier this week, authorities opened a price-fixing case against Apple.
Google offered this statement on the fine: “We have received notice of the fine from FAS [Russia’s antitrust arm] and will analyze closely before deciding our next steps.”
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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