Google announced today that it will pay $700 million – $630 million to US consumers and $70 to a fund used by US states – in a Play Store settlement reached in September.
In September, the company reached a tentative settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by U.S. states and consumers that had originally been filed in 2021. However, the search giant released details of the settlement today. The complaint pointed out Google’s monopoly on Android app distribution through the Play Store.
In November 2022, Google launched a user-choice billing pilot program in the US that allowed developers to use alternative payment methods for in-app purchases. Today, the company said it will expand the program in the country as part of the settlement. Google said developers will be able to display different costs of an in-app purchase based on the customer’s chosen billing method.
The company too he said that it will simplify the sideloading process. However, he emphasized that the company will change its messaging around sideloading.
Currently, users see a pop-up with warning text when they try to load an app. This popup takes users to a settings screen where they can install apps from “unknown sources.” Google will have to combine both of these screens as part of the settlement. The agreement states that the company will have to maintain this side loading flow for at least five years without changing it.
“While we maintain that it is critical to our security efforts to inform users that sideloading on mobile can have unique risks, as part of our settlement we will further simplify the sideloading process and update the language that informs users about these potential risks of downloading apps directly from the web for the first time,” said Wilson White, Vice President, Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google.
Google highlighted it suspension which also made Android 14 app upgrade process easier with more controls for third-party app stores through an API.
This development at the time Google lost its antitrust battle with Epic. Google plans to appeal the verdict and reiterated in today’s blog post that it “failed to recognize the choice and competition our platforms allow,” but the case is “not over.”
The test revealed Google’s deals with companies like Spotifywhich did not pay a commission to the Play Store for in-app purchases.
The Epic vs. Google test showed that the search firm knows this a 4% discount offered through the user choice fee is not enough for developers to switch to other operators. Because developers will also have to pay fees to these processors, which can be more than the 4% offered by Google.
Reacting to Google’s settlement with the Attorney General, Corie Wright, Vice President of Public Policy at Epic Games said that this payment will not bring “any real relief” to consumers.
“Consumers will continue to overpay for digital goods as a result of Google imposing an uncompetitive 30% Google Play Charge or 26% junk fees on top of payments that Google is not involved in processing. Developers will also continue to be limited in how they distribute their apps, and developers who choose to use a third-party payment option will be forced to use Google’s misleadingly labeled “user options charge” system instead of having creative freedom to design their apps. payment systems,” Wright said in a statement.
Epic has been added a blog post that in the next phase of the case with Google, the game company will seek “substantial remedies to truly open up the Android ecosystem.”
