US States Sue Google Over Playstore Practices; Deets Inside

Around 36 US states and Washington DC have reportedly filed legal action against Google, stating that the search engine, Google’s huge control over its Android play store violates antitrust laws.

The legal action claimed that through various exclusionary contracts and other anticompetitive conduct in the Google Play Store, the search engine has disadvantaged the android users of tough competition that could lead to higher choice and innovation as well as significantly lower prices for mobile applications.

New York Attorney General James and the coalition co-led by the attorneys general of Utah, North Carolina, and Tennessee have also blamed Google of requiring app developers selling in-app digital content through apps purchased via Google’s Play Store to use Google Billing as a middleman, making it compulsory for app consumers to pay Google’s commission which is up to 30 percent.   

James claimed, “Google has served as the gatekeeper of the internet for many years, but, more recently, it has also become the gatekeeper of our digital devices — resulting in all of us paying more for the software we use every day.”

She further said, “Once again, we are seeing Google use its dominance to illegally quash competition and profit to the tune of billions. 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, “Worse yet, Google is squeezing the lifeblood out of millions of small businesses that are only seeking to compete. We are filing this lawsuit to end Google’s illegal monopoly power and finally give voice to millions of consumers and business owners.”   

The report against Google claimed that the search engine imposes technical barriers that robustly prevent third-party application developers from distributing apps outside the Google Play Store. The lawsuit alleges that Google “buys off” its potential competition in the market for app distribution. The legal report also claims that Google “buys off” its prominent competition in the market for app distribution.

It said, “Google forces app developers and app users alike to use Google’s payment processing service — Google Play Billing — to process any payments for purchases of digital content made in apps obtained through the Google Play Store.”

It also asserted, “Thus, Google is unlawfully tying the use of Google’s payment processor — which is a separate service within a separate market for payment processing within apps — to distribution through the Google Play Store. By forcing this tie, Google can extract an exorbitant processing fee for each transaction, as high as 30 percent, and many times higher than payment processing fees charged in competitive markets.”