Google to pay $700m in settlement, make changes in app store regulations

Settlement outlines that consumers will receive payments based on their spending on Google Play between August 16, 2016, and September 30, 2023
An undated image displaying Google logo. — Unsplash
An undated image displaying Google logo. — Unsplash

Google has agreed to pay $700 million and to allow for greater competition in its Play app store.

As reported by Reuters, the development emerged as a result of a federal court hearing in San Francisco.

Out of the whole, ninety per cent ($630 million) of the total amount is bound to go under a settlement fund for consumers, while the remaining $70 million will be transferred into a fund used by states, according to the settlement awaiting the judge's final approval.

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The settlement outlines that eligible consumers will receive payments based on their spending on Google Play between August 16, 2016, and September 30, 2023, with the least amount being $2 each.

Although it didn’t admit any wrongdoing, Google was accused of overcharging consumers through unlawful restrictions on the distribution of apps on Android devices and unnecessary fees for in-app transactions.

The settlement "builds on Android's choice and flexibility, maintains strong security protections, and retains Google's ability to compete with other (operating system) makers, and invest in the Android ecosystem for users and developers," said Wilson White, Google vice president for government affairs and public policy, in a statement.

It was further learned that, as part of the settlement, Google agreed to simplify the way apps are downloaded directly from developers.

Lawyers representing the states said in their court filing that the settlement terms "will offer significant, meaningful, long-lasting relief for consumers throughout the country."

"No other US antitrust enforcer has yet been able to secure remedies of this magnitude from Google" or any other digital platform, remarked the states’ attorneys.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, in a post on social media platform X, said the states could have won a larger damages amount "if they'd stayed in the fight a few weeks longer."

Google faces other lawsuits challenging its search and digital advertising practices. It has denied any wrongdoing in those cases.