US reach tentative settlement with Google over Play Store
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Google reached an agreement in principle with US states to settle an antitrust lawsuit for its alleged conduct in the Google Play Store, according to a Tuesday court filing.

The lawsuit was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James and the attorneys general of California, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah. According to the lawsuit, Google inflated the price of paid apps and in-app purchases on the Android app market in 2021, accusing the company of monopolistic practices.

“It’s strange that a group of state attorneys general chose to file a lawsuit attacking a system that provides more openness and choice than others,” Google wrote in response to the lawsuit in 2021.

As of now, Google doesn’t have any comments.

Including Google, no company is too big to play by the rules. In a statement, the attorneys general said that using monopoly power to raise prices is illegal.

According to the lawsuit, Google imposes technical barriers for third-party app developers and forces them to use its payment processing service, Google Play Billing, which charges as much as 30% per transaction.

Another closely watched antitrust battle is taking place this month between the tech giant and the U.S. government. A group of states and the Justice Department are suing Google in mid-September alleging the design of its search page hurts rivals such as Yelp and Expedia. As part of an effort to challenge Google’s dominance in online search, the Justice Department filed its first lawsuit during the Trump administration.

In January, the Biden administration brought another lawsuit arguing that Google’s ad tech business should be dismantled.

The attorneys general said Wednesday that the Play Store settlement agreement, which is subject to court approval, has yet to be finalized, and more information will be released in 30 days.