Google, one of the largest technology companies in the world, is no stranger to antitrust lawsuits by now. However, the latest is the first of its scale to make significant allegations on a broader scale, and seeks recourse to rein in its powers. Earlier this week, on Wednesday, July 7, the attorney generals of 36 states in the United States, as well as Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit in California federal court over significant antitrust and monopolistic practices by Google with its Play Store. was accused of. The latter, as alleged in the lawsuit, is being carefully and consciously maintained by Google as the leading app store on Android, and the company takes careful steps to ensure that all developers are free and third-party users. Instead of favoring – keep ferrying your goods on this app stores elsewhere on the web.
Steps taken to maintain the monopoly?
According to the lawsuit, first and foremost the allegation states that Google The Android operating system currently holds a 90 percent market share of all Android apps with its Play Store, despite being “open” (as opposed to “some others”, as Google reminded in its response). The lawsuit states that Google has taken conscious steps to maintain this dominance of the Play Store, such as preventing third party app store Refusing to purchase Google ads, either from search or YouTube, and to download them via the Play Store – which comes preinstalled on every Android phone with Google services, i.e. other than Huawei.
The lawsuit also states that when it comes to several developers, Google allegedly paid them to continue using the Play Store. This, the lawsuit alleges, was done to ensure that users keep using the Play Store to update their apps, in essence not being able to quit. according to a politician report good, the lawsuit also alleges that Google attempted to pay Samsung for not doing special deals through its own app store, the Galaxy Store. Reportedly the deal could not be done.
The basis for the lawsuit is Google’s impending move that would make it mandatory for app developers to share the 30 percent revenue cut with the Android maker from September 2021. Google also wants to establish more strictly what all developers who publish apps on its store should use. Google’s own payment tool, a move that Apple has made long ago (and has been criticized for). Notable app makers offering subscription services like Spotify, Netflix and others have so far avoided paying Google a hefty amount out of their subscription revenue. Following Google’s new policy enforcement, they will be obliged.
‘Weird, qualityless’: what Google says
In response to the lawsuit, Wilson White, senior director of public policy at Google, graphs That, among other things, the case against the company in federal court is “strange.” As part of his defense against the lawsuit, White said that it is unfair not to count the Apple App Store as one of the major rivals to the Google Play Store, and that the lawsuit is only for the App Store within the Android ecosystem. Makes count wrong. White states, this is because of how Apple’s app ecosystem is one of the most successful in the world, and therefore, “if we’re not providing them (users) with the best experience on Google Play, they have other There are options to choose from.”
White further points out that contrary to the claims of the lawsuit, Google actually enables competition — he cites the presence of the App Store that each OEM preloads with its custom Android interface as evidence. “Most Android devices ship with two or more app stores preloaded. And popular Android devices like Amazon Fire tablets come preloaded with a competing app store and no Google Play Store,” White says. He also encapsulates the practice of ‘sideloading’ apps on Android – the practice of installing app packages from third-party websites. However, this claim is questionable – given that Google has also paralleled the security aspect to actively discourage users from sideloading apps.
Finally, White highlighted the amount of revenue generated by the Play Store for small-time developers and the number of jobs it creates, before adding, “Android and Google Play offer openness and options that other platforms simply don’t.” This lawsuit isn’t about helping the little guy or protecting consumers. It’s about promoting some of the major app developers who want the benefits of Google Play without paying. Smaller developers by doing so This increases costs for users, hinders their ability to innovate and compete, and make apps in the Android ecosystem less secure for consumers.”
Could there be an injustice to Google here?
While the hearing is yet to begin, here are some points that are important to consider. Most recently, in the historic big tech court battle of Apple vs. Epic Games, Apple zeroed in on the security aspect of its mobile operating system, iOS, by throwing out both Android and iOS. Your own macOS just under. However, Apple had backed up a fair amount of data – iOS legitimately has fewer security flaws than the Play Store Seemingly Relentless Malware Problems.
On this note, Google may not have banned third-party app stores and app downloads outright, but it discourages the average user from doing so. While the security implications aren’t ridiculous, the question remains whether Google is even doing enough on the security front — or not in person here. The second point on this note comes down to Google’s recent move to switch to Android App Bundles (AAB), a new file format that replaces long-running APKs (app packages).
The move will essentially require small, indie app developers to choose one of two file formats, as third-party app stores can continue to use APKs because Android will not officially stop support for the latter. . Given that smaller developers may not have the resources to maintain two versions of their apps side-by-side, they may be indirectly prompted to choose the Play Store – as the latter has a significantly larger amount of users. It could also count towards Google’s woes of antitrust in the long run.
As the world awaits the verdict on Apple v Epic, it is Google vs America that is in the second round of many of the big tech challenges. So the question is whether regulators and lawmakers will have enough ammo to implement changes to the way the predecessor Android operates.
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