A, Google's parent company, has agreed to pay 700 million of dollars in the United States to close a antitrust lawsuit concerning the Android Play Store.
The transaction aims to resolve complaints brought forward by attorneys general and consumers in various American states. The charges center on the alleged limitation of alternative payment systems to Google Play, Alphabet's app store, indicating the management of a monopoly.
The accusations against Google
The attorneys general accused Google of anti-competitive practices, claiming that the company was trying to hinder competition and force developers to use the Google Play Store exclusively. These allegations, laid out in the 2021 complaint, were joined by a separate, nearly all-involving class action 21 million consumers, accusing Google of increasing the prices of Android apps with up to a 30% reduction in transactions on Google Play.
The agreement involves changes to Google Play Store policies, allowing developers to use alternative payment systems and avoid fees of up to 30% imposed by Google. Developers will now have access to an alternative payment system to Google's, and it will be made easier to download apps directly from developer websites rather than Google Play.
Who will the 700 million go to?
The agreement, ratified by the court, provides for a payment of 630 million dollars to a fondo di compensation for consumers e 70 million directly to the States.
The antitrust agreement involves all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The legal challenges, consolidated in federal court in California, threatened revenue estimated at trillions of dollars from the sale and distribution of applications through Google Play.
Google's move anticipates a possible negative decision in court as happened a few days ago in a lawsuit with Epic Games.
Epic Games' victory against Google
On December 12th, Alphabet has suffered a legal defeat in a lawsuit against Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite. Epic Games had accused Google of illegal practices in the distribution, payment and pricing policies of apps on Google Play. The court in California unanimously favored Epic Games in the antitrust case, declaring that Google holds a monopoly in both the market for application distribution on Android and in-app payment services.
