OLYMPIA, Wash. — On Tuesday, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that Google has agreed to pay $700 million to settle allegations that it had been stifling competition against its Android app store.
According to Ferguson, the lawsuit accused Google of using anticompetitive practices to “insulate its app distribution service, Google Play Store, from competition – forcing Android app developers to raise app prices for users in order to pay Google’s exorbitant fees.”
Eligible Washingtonians will receive and estimated $10.6 million in reimbursements for their overpayments. Eligible consumers outside Washington will receive at least $2, according to the settlement, and may get additional payments based on their spending on the Play store between Aug. 16, 2016 and Sept. 30, 2023. Consumers are supposed to be automatically notified about various options for how they can receive their cut of the money.
Google also agreed to make other changes designed to make it even easier for consumers to download and install Android apps from other outlets besides its Play Store for the next five years. It will refrain from issuing as many security warnings, or “scare screens," when alternative choices are being used.
“When companies illegally act like monopolies, everyone loses out on the benefits of healthy competition,” Ferguson said. “People face higher prices and fewer choices. Smaller businesses are forced out of the market — or have no way into it in the first place. This resolution stops Google from rigging the system and creates a more level playing field. We will continue to fight for a competitive marketplace that increases consumer choice, improves affordability and provides a level playing field for business.”
Google faces an even bigger legal threat in another antitrust case targeting its dominant search engine that serves as the centerpiece of a digital ad empire that generates more than $200 billion in sales annually. Closing arguments in a trial pitting Google against the Justice Department are scheduled for early May before a federal judge in Washington D.C.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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