In a lawsuit that could overhaul the rules on how millions of businesses make money on Google’s smartphone operating system, Android, a jury concluded on Monday that Google broke antitrust laws by extracting fees and limiting competition from Epic Games and other developers on its Play mobile app store.
The nine-person federal jury sided with Epic Games on all 11 questions after deliberate for just more than three hours in a monthlong trial that was the latest twist in a three-year legal struggle.
The jury in San Francisco determined that Epic, the creator of the popular game Fortnite, demonstrated that Google maintained a monopoly in the smartphone app store market and engaged in anticompetitive behavior that injured the videogame company.
Google may be obliged to change the rules of its Play Store, allowing other firms to offer alternative app stores and making it easier for developers to forgo the cut it takes from in-app purchases.
Next year, Judge James Donato of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California will rule on the appropriate remedies to rectify Google’s behavior. Google stated that it would appeal the decision.
Throughout the trial, Google’s lawyers and executives maintained that it competed with Apple’s App Store, which is more popular in the United States, making an Android monopoly hard to function.
The conviction handed a boost to Epic’s years-long drive to erode Google and Apple’s control over the mobile app ecosystem, and it came two years after Epic mostly lost a similar case against Apple — a ruling that both sides are attempting to appeal to the United States Supreme Court. A judge rendered the decision.
In pursuing the case against Google, Epic aimed to retain more of the cash generated by in-app purchases and to provide an app store that competed with Play on the Android operating system.
Google was defending itself in another antitrust trial in Washington, D.C. while battling Epic’s charges. In a momentous antitrust case that could redefine digital dominance when it is determined next year, the Department of Justice and dozens of states have accused the corporation of illegally retaining a search and advertising monopoly.
Google charges app developers a 15% fee on the Play Store for consumer payments for app subscriptions and up to 30% for sales made within popular apps downloaded from the store. According to Google, 99 percent of developers are eligible for a 15 percent or lower fee on in-app purchases.
Google intends to appeal the decision and would “continue to defend the Android business model,” according to Wilson White, a Google vice president of government affairs. He went on to say that the investigation “made clear that we compete fiercely with Apple and its App Store, as well as app stores on Android devices and gaming consoles.”
