(Finance) – Google will pay $700 million to settle a US lawsuitrelating to his Android Play Store, which according to complaints presented by consumer associations and a group of American states would violate competition. Google has been accused by antitrust authorities of imposing restrictions on app distribution on Android devices and have asked for a fee on in-app transactions.
US state and consumer advocates reached the agreement in September, but the terms were kept confidential ahead of the resolution of the other lawsuit with Epic Games, which ended last week with a condemnation of Google’s anticompetitive conduct.
In detail, Google will pay $630 million into a fund who will take care of redistributing the sum to consumers according to a plan approved by the American Court e $70 million in a fund which will be uused by states. The agreement provides that i consumers receive at least $2 and other additional payments based on spending on Google Play between August 16, 2016 and September 30, 2023.
Big tech has it too agreed to make changes to the functioning of Android system, to ensure greater competition in its app store. Google will have to ensure that all developers, including game developers, can add alternative in-app billing systems to Google for at least 5 years.
The agreement with the US judicial authorities was announced by Wilson WhiteGoogle’s vice president of government affairs, who said “Android and Google Play have continually evolved to provide greater flexibility and choice in response to feedback from developers and regulators, as well as intense competition from Apple and app stores in the ecosystem Open Android. We demonstrated this in the recent trial and were disappointed that the verdict did not recognize the choice and competition our platforms enable.”
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