'Google Play Store Takes Too Much Fees' Sued by 36 States and Washington, DC

On July 7, 2021, 36 states said that it was a violation of the Antimonopoly Act that Google effectively limited the distribution method of Android apps to the Play Store only and collected fees from app developers in that state. And the Attorney General of the District of Columbia (Washington, DC) have sued Google.

Google Sued by 36 States Over Alleged Play Store Abuses --Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-07/google-set-to-be-sued-by-states-over-alleged-play-store-abuse

Google faces new antitrust lawsuit over Google Play Store fees --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/7/22567532/google-play-store-antitrust-lawsuit-state-ag-app-fees

In October 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Google for antitrust violations with the Attorney Generals of 11 states. Focusing on Google's exclusiveness in the search and advertising market, the proceedings are positioned as a major proceeding following the 1974 AT & T proceedings and the 1998 Microsoft proceedings. In addition, 10 states including Texas on December 17 and 38 states such as Nebraska on December 18 filed a lawsuit against Google for antitrust violations due to collusion with Facebook.

Google is sued for antitrust violations on search market, third suit in just two months-GIGAZINE

Following these proceedings, on July 7, 2021, the Attorney Generals of 36 states, including the District of Columbia and New York, filed an antitrust proceeding against Google. In a (PDF file) complaint filed in the federal district court in San Francisco, state judiciaries said Google was anti-competitive, including allowing app developers to have no choice but to reach users on the Play Store. He pointed out that he used a traditional strategy to prevent competition. He also accused Google of charging a high commission of up to 30% of app sales.

In a statement, Attorney General Letitia James of New York said, 'Google has been the gatekeeper of the Internet for many years, but in recent years it has also become the gatekeeper of our digital devices. We are forced to pay more for the software we use every day. '

In August 2020, the world-popular game app ' Fortnight , the developer of the' Epic Games is, for the same reason as this time has sued Apple and Google . To respond to these criticisms, Google announced in March 2021 that it would cut Play Store fees in half.

Google announces that it will cut Play Store fees in half, unlike Apple, there will be no increase even if revenue increases-GIGAZINE

by Yuri Samoilov

Regarding the intensifying criticism of the app distribution platform, IT news site The Verge said, 'In Android, unlike Apple's iOS, there is a way to get apps without using the Play Store, so it is generally It has been seen as less in breach of antitrust than iOS, but with increasing pressure on Apple, the Play Store pricing structure has also been seen as problematic in many ways. '.