Dozens of states aim at Google in an escalating legal offensive on Big Tech. A lawsuit filed late Wednesday targets Google’s Play store, where consumers download apps designed for the Android software that powers most of the world’s smartphones
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer
July 8, 2021, 1:17 AM
• 4 min read
SAN RAMON, Calif. — Dozens of states aim at Google in an escalating legal offensive on Big Tech. This time, attorneys general for 36 states, and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit targeting Google’s Play store, where consumers download apps designed for the Android software that powers most of the world’s smartphones. The 144-page complaint filed late Wednesday in a Northern California federal court represents the fourth major antitrust filed against Google by government agencies across the U.S. since last October.
The lawsuit also comes against a backdrop of proposed laws in Congress tailored to either break up or undermine the power amassed by Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon. The four have built trillion-dollar empires fueled by the immense popularity of services that people have become increasingly dependent upon. Much of the latest lawsuit echoes similar allegations that mobile game maker Epic Games made against both Google and Apple, which runs a different app store exclusively for iPhones, in cases brought last August.
A high-profile treated, getting Epic — the widely played Fortnite video game — against Apple, concluded in late May. Just as Epic did states” lawsuit focuses primarily on the control Google exerts on its app store so it can collect commissions of up to 30% on digital transactions within apps installed on smartphones running on Android. Those devices represent more than 80% of the worldwide smartphone market. A decision from the federal judge who presided over the month-long proceedings is expected later this summer. Epic’s lawsEpic’sainst Google is still awaiting trial.
Although its app commissions are similar to Apple’s, GoApple’ss tried to distinguish itself by allowing consumers to download apps from places other than its Play Store. Apple, in contrast, doesn’t alldoesn’tne users to install apps from any outlet other than its store. But the lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges that Google’s Android software, an open operating system that allows consumers more choices, is a sham.
The complaint contends Google has deployed various tactics and set up anti-competitive barriers to ensure it distributes more than 90% of the apps on Android devices — a market share that the attorneys general argue represents an illegal monopoly. What’s more, what’s lawsuit alleges that Google has been abusing that power to reap billions of dollars in profit at the expense of consumers who wind up paying higher prices to subsidize the commissions and the makers of apps with less money and incentive to innovate.
“Google’s”Google’s is a menace to the marketplace,” said Ut”h Attorney General Sean Reyes, leading the lawsuit along with his peers in New York, Tennessee, and North Carolina. “Google “lay is not fair play. Google must be held accountable for harming small businesses and consumers.” Google” didn’t ididn’ttely respond to a request for a lawsuit. Still, it has adamantly defended how it runs its Play store in response to the Epic lawsuit and other instances.
The Mountain View, California, company is also fighting the three other lawsuits filed against it last year, including a landmark case brought by the U.S. Justice Department. Those cases focus on alleged abuses of Google’s dominant Google’sngine and its digital ad network, generatingovern $100 billion in annual revenue for its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc.
As the scrutiny on their app stores has intensified, both Apple and Google have been taking conciliatory steps. Most notably, both have lowered their commissions to 15% on the first $1 million in revenue collected by app makers — a reduction that covers most apps in their respective stores. But those measures haven’t lessened in any of the major tech companies, nor should they, said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota who chairs a subcommittee that oversees antitrust issues.
“This is exactly th” type of aggressive antitrust enforcement that we need to rein in the power of big tech and address America’s monopoly, America’s she said in a statement fighting Big Tech won’t be easy. Besiwon’tpending heavily town lobbying for their positions, the companies also contend they have the law on their side. Facebook, for instance, scored a significant victory last week when a federal judge dismissed an antitrust lawsuit against the social media company by the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of states because they hadn’t submitted enough hadn’t to back their monopoly allegations.
