To resolve claims of stifling competition, Google pays millions

Google has agreed to pay $700 million and make a number of other concessions in order to ease accusations that it had been stifling competition against its Android app store.

In order to resolve claims that it had been suppressing competition against its Android app store, Google has agreed to pay $700 million and make a number of other concessions. This is the same issue that went to trial in a different case and may lead to even more significant changes. The contents of the settlement, which Google reached with state attorneys general in September, were only made public late on Monday in paperwork submitted to a federal court in San Francisco. A federal court jury had chastised Google for using anticompetitive practices in its Play Store for Android apps, and this revelation was made one week prior.

$630 million of the settlement with the states would go toward compensating American consumers who were duped into using a payment processing system that, according to state attorneys general, increased the cost of digital transactions made through apps that could be downloaded from the Play Store. The majority of cellphones on the planet use Android software, which is catered to by that shop.

Similar to what Apple does with its iPhone app store; Google keeps commissions on in-app purchases that range from 15% to 30%. The state attorney general claimed that these fees caused prices to rise above what they would have if there had been an open market for payment processing. Based on evidence given in the recent trial concerning the Play Store, Google made billions of dollars in profit each year from those commissions.