In yet another legal loss for the internet giant, on Monday, a US judge commanded Google to make its Android app store available on competing app marketplaces.
The order is the outcome of Google’s loss in an antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the producer of Fortnite, where a jury in California determined that Google had an unlawful monopoly due to its Google Play Store.
In December, a San Francisco jury found in favor of Google after only a few hours of deliberation, concluding that the firm had engaged in a number of illicit tactics to preserve its monopoly on the Android app store.
An appeal of assessment was submitted by Google, which came after an identical defeat in August when another judge declared that Google’s dominant search engine was likewise an unconstitutional monopoly.
In a third federal case in Virginia, Google is also being sued for antitrust violations due to its dominance in internet advertising.
As per the court judgment, Google will not be allowed to carry out any of the various practices that the jury found to be anti-competitive for the next three years. These restrictions include the need that developers release their apps only through the Play Store and revenue sharing with possible rivals.
A three-person technical committee has also been mandated by the court to supervise the reforms’ implementation and settle any disagreements that may come up.
This injunction poses a serious challenge to Google’s dominance in the Android app ecosystem and might transform the mobile app landscape in the coming years.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney advised companies to grasp this chance “to build a vibrant and competitive Android ecosystem with such critical mass that Google can’t stop it.”
Not only will the reforms only apply to the US, he said, but he also promised that “the legal and regulatory battle will continue around the world.”
