According to the terms of an antitrust settlement with US states and consumers disclosed on Monday in a San Francisco federal court, Alphabet’s Google has agreed to pay $700 million and allow for greater competition in its Play app store.
Google will contribute $630 million to a consumer settlement fund and $70 million to a fund for state use, according to a statement.
Google was accused of overcharging customers by imposing illegal restrictions on app distribution on Android devices and charging unnecessary fees for in-app transactions. It made no admissions of wrongdoing.
The agreement still needs to be approved by a judge. The settlement was announced in September by lead plaintiff Utah and other states, but the terms were kept confidential in advance of Google’s related trial with “Fortnite” creator Epic Games. A federal jury in California agreed with Epic last week that parts of Google’s app business were anticompetitive.
Google stated that it would make it easier for users to download apps directly from developers
In a statement, Wilson White, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, said the agreement “builds on Android’s choice and flexibility, maintains strong security protections, and retains Google’s ability to compete with other (operating system) makers and invest in the Android ecosystem for users and developers.”
The company stated that it was expanding app and game developers’ ability to provide consumers with an alternative billing option for in-app purchases in addition to Play’s billing system. Google said it had been testing “choice billing” in the United States for more than a year.
As part of the agreement, Google stated that it would make it easier for users to download apps directly from developers.
Next year, Epic will ask U.S. District Judge James Donato, who is hearing both cases, to issue an order requiring Google to make changes to its Play store.
