(Jackson, Mississippi) Attorney General Lynn Fitch today announced a national $700 million agreement with Google settling claims regarding Google’s anticompetitive conduct with the Google Play Store.
“Anti-competitive business practices hurt businesses, consumers and the economy as a whole,” said General Fitch. “Through this settlement, the individuals who were impacted will receive restitution and Google will improve their policies to increase competition, innovation and consumer choice. It is my hope that this settlement will serve as an important reminder that no business is above accountability, regardless of their size, popularity or influence.”
Google will pay $630 million in restitution, minus costs and fees, to consumers who made purchases on the Google Play Store between August 2016 and September 2023 and were harmed by Google’s anticompetitive practices. People eligible for restitution do not have to submit a claim – they will receive automatic payments through PayPal or Venmo, or they can elect to receive a check or ACH transfer. More details about that process will be forthcoming.
All 50 states, the District of Columbia and territories of Puerto Rico and the
Virgin Islands joined this lawsuit, filed in 2021. Specifically, the States claimed
that Google 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 states
announced a settlement in principle on September 5, 2023, and today released
the finalized terms of that deal. Google will pay the states an additional $70 million for their sovereign claims.
The settlement requires Google to reform its business practices in the following ways:
- Give all developers the ability to allow users to pay through in-app billing systems other than Google Play Billing for at least five years.
- Allow developers to offer cheaper prices for their apps and in-app products for consumers who use alternative, non-Google billing systems for at least five years.
- Permit developers to steer consumers toward alternative, non-Google billing systems by advertising cheaper prices within their apps themselves for at least five years.
- Not enter contracts that require the Play Store to the be the exclusive, pre-loaded app store on a device or home screen for at least five years.
- Allow the installation of third-party apps on Android phones from outside the Google Play Store for at least seven years.
- Revise and reduce the warnings that appear on an Android device if a user attempts to download a third-party app from outside the Google Play Store for at least 5 years.
- Maintain Android system support for third-party app stores, including allowing automatic updates, for four years.
- Not require developers to launch their app catalogs on the Play Store at the same time as they launch on other app stores for at least four years.
- Submit compliance reports to an independent monitor who will ensure that Google is not continuing its anticompetitive conduct for at least 5 years.
For much of this case, the attorneys general litigated alongside Epic Games and Match, two major app developers. Match announced a separate settlement earlier this year, while Epic Games took its case to trial. A jury unanimously found that Google’s anticompetitive conduct violated the federal antitrust laws early last week.
A copy of the attorneys general settlement is available
here.
