The terms of an antitrust settlement with US states and consumers disclosed in federal court on Monday reveal that Google has agreed to pay $700 million and to permit more competition in its Play app store.
In 2020, the Justice Department and numerous states filed separate complaints accusing Google of abusing its dominance in online search by allegedly undermining competition through agreements with smartphone manufacturers and wireless carriers that made Google Search the only or default option on products used by millions of users. Eventually, all of the complaints were combined into one case.
A Google representative released a statement on Monday stating, “Today, the details of a settlement reached in September with state solicitors general were filed publicly.”
“Google will pay $630 million into a settlement fund to be distributed for the benefit of consumers according to a Court-approved plan,” the company said in a statement announcing the deal.
According to the settlement submitted to a federal court in San Francisco, an additional $70 million will be deposited into a fund for the use of the states. As per the settlement, the fund has the potential to help about 102 million customers.
It stated, “During the period between August 16, 2016 and September 30, 2023, each eligible consumer will receive at least $2 and will receive additional payments in proportion to their Google Play spending.”
As per the Google statement, “This settlement preserves Google’s ability to compete with other OS makers, builds on Android’s choice and flexibility, and invests in the Android ecosystem for users and developers.”
The statement from the firm continued, “App stores throughout the open Android ecosystem and Apple have created fierce competition for Android and Google Play, which have continuously evolved to offer more choice and flexibility.”
It said, “We were disappointed that the verdict did not recognise the choice and competition that our platforms enable. We demonstrated this in the recent trial.”
Google is dealing with a number of antitrust complaints, including this one. A federal jury found last week that Google’s app store constituted an unlawful monopoly. The decision followed a protracted legal dispute with Epic Games, the company behind the popular computer game “Fortnite.”
In a separate ongoing lawsuit, the Justice Department charged Google with purposefully suppressing rival search engine competitors.
