Google to pay $700M, allow alternative billing in antitrust settlement with states

Clyde Hughes
·2 min read
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UPI
Image of Google headquarters in Mountain View, California on January 5, 2010. Google agreed to an antitrust settlement for $700 million. File Photo by Mohammad Kheirkhah/UPI

Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Google announced on Monday that it is changing its billing options brought on by a $700 million antitrust settlement sparked by a lawsuit filed by the majority of U.S. attorneys general.

Under the terms of the settlement, Google will pay $630 million into a fund to benefit consumers who may have overpaid for apps or purchases within apps on its Google Play store while $70 million will be awarded to the state attorneys general.

In a revamp of its billing options, Google announced app and game developers will be able to implement an alternative to Google Play's billing system in the United States, allowing users to choose which option to use when making in-app purchases. Developers will also be able to show different pricing options within their apps when users make digital purchases.

"We have been piloting user choice billing in the U.S. for over a year and will now expand this option further," Wilson White, Google's vice president of government affairs and public policy, said in a statement.

Google further said it would provide additional options for users to purchase and download apps from other storefronts outside of its Play Store.

It said that "most Android devices" ship with two or more app stores preinstalled, but said newly implemented features on its latest Android 14 operating system will "make third-party app stores work even better for users" and let allow for easier updates.

Lastly, Google said it was "further simplifying" the process of "sideloading" or downloading apps directly from a developer's website while updating language about the potential risks of such downloads.

The attorneys general are asking California-based U.S. District Judge James Donato to approve the settlement by Feb. 8.

Donato also oversaw a separate lawsuit by Fortnite maker Epic Games in which a jury found in favor of the plaintiff's claims that Google's Play Store violates antitrust laws.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney called Google's settlement with the attorneys general "an unfortunate outcome" noting that it "endorses Google's 30% monopoly rent imposition, by replacing the anticompetitive Google Play Billing tie with a new anticompetitive Google-imposed 'user choice billing' tie which adds a useless 26% Google Tax for payments they don't process."

"The state attorneys general settlement is an injustice to all Android users and developers. It endorses Google's misleading and anticompetitive scare screens, which Google intentionally designed to disadvantage competing stores and direct downloads," Sweeney said.