According to a court filing, Alphabet’s Google conditionally settled a class action lawsuit on Tuesday that claimed its U.S. Play Store had overcharged customers in violation of U.S. federal antitrust laws.
The settlement’s specifics weren’t made public.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who comprised more than 30 U.S. states and 21 million consumers, argued that if it weren’t for Google’s purported monopoly, consumers may have spent less on apps and had more options.
Trial slated for November 6 was requested to be postponed by parties to the settlement, including attorneys for the attorney general of Utah, which is leading the coalition of states.
In spite of having previously denied misconduct, Google chose not to comment on the proposed payment. A lawyer for plaintiffs that include the states and the District of Columbia did not immediately reply to a request for comment, while attorneys for the consumer plaintiffs declined to comment on the proposed settlement.
The court must first approve the deal.
Similar cases against Google claim that it used illegal means to maintain monopolies over the sale of Android apps and in-app purchases in order to generate massive profit margins from its Play Store.
They contend that Google has illegally required some apps to utilise its payment services and to provide the firm up to 30% of sales of digital products.
Tim Sweeney, the founder and CEO of Epic Games, stated in a post on the social networking website X, now known as Twitter, that his company is not a party to the planned Google Play settlement and has filed such a claim.
“We’ll settle and be Google’s friend in their new era if Google is ending its payments monopoly without imposing a Google Tax on third party transactions,” he added, adding that the company will “fight on” if the deal left the “Google tax” in place.
A claim has also been made by Match Group. A Match representative declined to comment.
In re Google Play Store Antitrust Litigation, Northern District of California U.S. District Court, Case No. 21-md-02981. (Editing by Jamie Freed and Edwina Gibbs; reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru and Mike Scarcella; additional reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh)