Google faces a major multi-state antitrust lawsuit over Google Play fees
A group of 37 attorneys general filed a second major multi-state antitrust lawsuit against Google Wednesday, accusing the company of abusing its market power to stifle competitors and forcing consumers into in-app payments that grant the company a hefty cut.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is co-leading the suit alongside the Tennessee, North Carolina and Utah attorneys general. The bipartisan coalition represents 36 U.S. states, including California, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Colorado and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.
“Through its illegal conduct, the company has ensured that hundreds of millions of Android users turn to Google, and only Google, for the millions of applications they may choose to download to their phones and tablets,” James said in a press release. “Worse yet, Google is squeezing the lifeblood out of millions of small businesses that
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Attorneys general from 36 states and one district are suing Google for alleged anti-competitive practices this time, over its Google Play app store.
The suit turns up the heat on Big Tech companies, which are also facing a growingpile of antitrustsuits, fending off bipartisan antitrust legislation from the House of Representatives, and preparing for more intense scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission now that it’s headed by antitrust expert and Big Tech critic Lina Khan.
The new suit filed on Wednesday accuses Google of making it difficult for app developers to distribute Android apps anywhere besides its Google Play store, where they are subject to rules and fees that benefit Google. It also says Google has, or has tried, to make agreements with Android device manufacturers like Samsung and mobile network operators like Verizon to preload Google apps on their dev
The lawmakers are taking aim at the fees Google takes from developers for in-app purchases and subscriptions. Google would charge as much as a 30% commission fee, but earlier this month lowered the fee to 15% after developers made their first $1 million in sales. To collect and maintain this extravagant commission, Google has employed anti-competitive tactics to diminish and disincentivize competition in Android app distribution, the suit said. Google has not only targeted potentially competing app stores but also has ensured that app developers themselves have no reasonable choice but to distribute their apps through the Google Play Store.
In response, Google said in its blog that developers have a range of distribution options on Android. The company said that as of February 2020, developers had earned more than $80 billion through Google Play. And in 2020, the Android app economy, including Google Play, helped create nearly 2 million American jobs.
Google hit with antitrust lawsuit by 36 states alleging app store monopoly Terry Collins, USA TODAY
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A coalition of three-dozen bipartisan state attorneys general has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google accusing the tech giant of running a monopoly for its app store.
The 36 states include Utah, New York, California, Virginia, North Carolina and the District of Columbia.
The suit, filed in a U.S. District Court in San Francisco, alleges that Google uses anti-competitive barriers and mandates to protect its monopoly power, through its Android operating system and its Play Store app over other app stores available on Android devices, including a majority of smartphones sold globally.