Google To Pay $700M USD in Settlement Over Antitrust Concerns
The company was restricting competition on its app store.
Google has announced it’ll be paying $700 million USD in a settlement pertaining to antitrust issues on the Google Play Store.
A lawsuit was filed against Google in 2021, addressing longstanding allegations that the company stifled competition on its version of the app store by charging unnecessary fees and implementing restrictions against certain apps.
While the settlement still has to receive final approval from a judge, the company will be dividing its payment between US states and affected consumers. The settlement will divest $630 million into USD into the consumer fund, split among about 71.4 million consumers, whereas $70 million USD will go into a fund for US states.
Per the terms of the settlement agreement, consumers won’t have to file a claim to receive their share, which totals about $2 USD per person.
In addition to the payment, Google is required to amend some of its restrictive terms. One of them pertains to the Google Play Store payment system, where consumers will now have the option to pay for in-app purchases through either Google’s own payment channel or a third-party payment system.
