PBK Daily reports that the government is planning to launch a “national search engine” which would aim at satisfying “state-orientated” needs such as “facilitating access to safe information” and “filtering websites which feature banned content”. It has been suggested that the move may be designed to topple the growing power of Google in Russia. Although Google controls only 22% of the market, its share has been growing rapidly against its nearest competitor, Yadex. Yadex is increasingly coming under government control. Russian authorities have recently stepped-up efforts to tighten their control of internet use. From 1 Aoril,  anyone who registers a .ru domain will need to provide legal proof of their identity.