Google Play App Store Sued By 36 States For Antitrust Violations

36 U.S. states along with Washington D.C. have sued the Google Play Store app store. These states have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the company of charging businesses and customers high fees due to its monopoly.

As reported by Politico, the lawsuit has been filed by states like New York, California, Florida, and Kentucky among others, in the Northern District of California. The lawsuit states that Google enjoys a monopoly in the Android ecosystem, which it has created thanks to its vast reach and resources. The company has made it so that customers are forced to use the Google Play Store in order to reach apps and tools created by developers. Thanks to this, the company takes up to 30% of any transaction made via Android.

RELATED: Here's How Much Money The Epic Games Store Has Spent To Compete With SteamIt further states that Google also ensures that apps do not find success via Android’s app distribution system and are forced to come via them in order to reach a customer base.

Google has refuted these claims with a statement saying, “This complaint mimics a similarly meritless lawsuit filed by the large app developer Epic Games, which has benefitted from Android’s openness by distributing its Fortnite app outside of Google Play.”

“This lawsuit isn’t about helping the little guy or protecting consumers,” added Google’s Senior Director of Public Policy, Wilson White. “It’s about boosting a handful of major app developers who want the benefits of Google Play without paying for it. Doing so risks raising costs for small developers, impeding their ability to innovate and compete, and making apps across the Android ecosystem less secure for consumers.”

The lawsuit went on to illustrate more ways in which Google maintains its monopoly over the Android market. It claimed that while other app stores are allowed, Google makes it extremely difficult for them to gain traction. The Play Store app, which comes pre-installed on Android phones, does not allow you to download any other app stores. Additionally, smaller app stores cannot even buy advertising space on its search engine or on YouTube.

The lawsuit also claims that Google offered Samsung an undisclosed sum of money to make sure that the Samsung Galaxy Store doesn’t pursue exclusivity deals with major apps and games. However, that deal fell apart.

NEXT: Google Play Boss Shares Favorite Simulation Games And Discusses The Genre's Future

About The Author