Alphabet, the parent company of Google, agrees to settle $700 million to avoid a potentially unfavorable judgment in the United States in a trial where the company is judged for abuse of dominant position.
The company will also make changes to its online app store, the Play Store, to reduce barriers to competition for developers. And this mainly concerns the possibility for mobile application publishers to bill users directly, without going through Google’s control.
This settlement is the culmination of a case that began with a complaint in July 2021, accusing Google of using anticompetitive tactics to discourage the distribution of Android applications in app stores other than its Play Store, subject to commission. on transactions.
App and game providers will now be able to bill Android users directly
“Google will pay 630 million dollars into a settlement fund which will be distributed for the benefit of consumers, according to a plan approved” by the courts and “70 million dollars into a fund which will be used by the States (editor’s note from the United States ),” Alphabet said in a statement Monday.
Consequence: application and game providers will now be able to bill Android users directly.
Last week, Epic Games, publisher of the hit game Fortnite, won a major US legal battle against Google. A court found him guilty of abusing his monopolistic position in the mobile applications market.
The jury found that Google held a monopoly on its application store, the Play Store, and on its payment service, Google Play Billing. By linking the Play Store to the payment service, Google abused its dominant position in the market and ensures justice.
Alphabet said on Monday that it contested this verdict.