Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti revealed on Wednesday that a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general announced a $700 million agreement with Google to settle their lawsuit alleging the technology company engaged in anticompetitive practices to stifle competitors to its Google Play Store.
Skrmetti stated that “Google will no longer profit from the inflated app costs it forced through its abuse of market power.”
The attorney general added that the settlement “will reduce app prices and increase consumer choices on the Android platform. Our office is proud to protect consumers, secure $700 million in financial relief, and be a part of this bipartisan effort to ensure one of the most powerful companies in the world follows the law.”
In their 2021 lawsuit, the attorneys general alleged that Google illegally “monopolized the markets for Android app distribution and in-app payment processing.” They alleged Google achieved the market dominance of the Google Play store when it “signed anticompetitive contracts to prevent other app stores from being preloaded on Android devices, bought off key app developers who might have launched rival app stores, and created technological barriers to deter consumers from directly downloading apps to their devices.”
The settlement was “announced in principle on September 5” and formalized this week.
Skrmetti reported that Google conceded to make at least nine changes to its business practices related to its Google Play Store. High-profile concessions include allowing developers to use billing systems other than Google Play Billing for its consumers, offering lower prices for customers who decide to use alternative payment systems, and allowing app developers to “steer consumers toward alternative, non-Google billing systems by advertising cheaper prices within their apps themselves” for five years.
The company also agreed to allow users to download apps from other app stores for at least seven years, officially support third-party app stores for at least four years, and submit compliance reports to an independent monitor for at least five years.
The attorney general’s office explained that Google will pay $630 million in restitution to users who made purchases on the Google Play store between August 2016 and September 2023. Recipients “will receive automatic payments through PayPal or Venmo,” explained Skrmetti’s office, though they can also opt to receive the refunds via a check or bank transfer. Google will pay the remaining $70 million “for sovereign claims,” Skrmetti’s office explained.
Google recently lost an unrelated lawsuit brought by the Epic Games, with a jury ruling that Google Play Stores constitutes an illegal monopoly. Google and Epic Games representatives are due back in court in January to determine possible remedies.
Questions over monopolization of the app market remain central to an ongoing lawsuit launched by Epic Games against Apple, which requires iPhone and iPad users to download apps exclusively through Apple’s App Store, and to pay for any transactions within the app using its billing systems. Epic Games attempted to circumvent this for its popular video game, Fortnite, and the title was pulled off Apple’s store soon after.
Last year, Skrmetti led previous negotiations with Google that secured a nearly $400 million settlement from the company over its location tracking practices.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Thank you AG Skrmetti.
These monopolies need to suffer consequences.
I hope Congress will bust them up especially before elections next year.
Meta (aka Zuckerberg) must be watched closely. His millions were able to remove local election officials & replace them with his paid people to do illegal election crimes.
I still don’t know why he hasn’t been indicted for REAL Election Interference.
The case against Trump & many GA residents by Fani Willis is ridiculous. She should be indicted for what she is doing to them. The people whose lives she has ruined should be compensated fir their losses, pain & suffering. Their evidence of Ekectionbfraud was never seen by a court. I’ve seen it. It’s real. I think we all should be allowed to sue them for breaching the trust of voters. We have all been harmed in this country, our Republic has been harmed.
STATE AG’s should go after these atrocities.
Too bad Pfizer can’t settle up, right? Got boosters.