Google Sued By Three Dozen States For Allegedly Monopolizing Play Store
Image via TY Lim / Shutterstock.com
This week, 36 US states teamed up to sue Google over alleged anti-competitive tactics related to the firm’s Google Play Store.
New York, Utah, North Carolina, and 33 other states filed the complaint in a federal court in San Francisco, focusing mainly on Google Play Store’s 30% commission fee on app purchases, which the states deem too large.
“Unbeknownst to most consumers who own a mobile device running Android, every time they purchase an app from the Google Play Store, or purchase digital content or subscriptions within an app, up to 30% of the money they pay goes to Google,” said the complaint.
According to Mashable, the tech giant immediately responded in a blog post, saying its Play Store offers “more openness and choice than others,” not-so-subtly referring to the Apple App Store.
Previously, Fortnite game developer Epic had sued Google over similar anti-competitive behavior, but later filed a suit against Apple for the same complaint.
This has led Google to look to Apple’s commission policies as a defense, saying the latter charges a similar percentage of fees on iOS purchases within the Apple App Store. Google also said most developers on the Play Store don’t pay a fee at all.
As noted by Mashable, this lawsuit isn’t the only antitrust complaint Google is fighting. Last year, the Department of Justice and 12 states filed a joint suit alleging Google had a monopoly over web search results.
While it remains to be seen if the federal court will approve of the lawsuit, it’s certainly telling that over 30 states have joined forces to challenge Google’s alleged anti-competitive stance.
[via Mashable, cover image via TY Lim / Shutterstock.com]
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