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Google say today it will pay $ 700 million — $ 630 million to U.S. consumer and $ 70 million to a fund used by U.S. state — in a Play Store resolution .
In September , the company reached a provisionary settlement in a class action at law suit filed by U.S. nation and consumer in the beginning filed in 2021 . However , the search giant made the item of the settlement public today . The complaint highlightedGoogle ’s monopoly over app distribution on Androidthrough the Play Store .
In November 2022 , Google get down a pilot of itsuser pick charge program in the U.S. , which allowed developer to habituate substitute defrayment methods for in - app purchase . Today , the company enunciate it will expound the program in the country as part of the settlement . Google said that developers will be able to show different costs of a purchase in the app found on the charge method acting chosen by the client .
The company alsosaidthat it would streamline the sideloading process . However , it emphasize that they will alter messaging around sideloading .
presently , exploiter see a pop - up with monition text when they sample to sideload an app . This pop - up then takes users to a place setting screen where they can install apps from “ strange beginning . ” Google will have to meld both these silver screen as part of the settlement . The agreement states that the society will have to keep this flow of sideloading for at least five age without altering it .
Here ’s how Google will simplify sideloading in Android .
As part of a propose class action lawsuit closure , Google say it will revise the nonpayment sideloading rate of flow in Android . Here ’s exactly what they ’re changing :
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“ While we keep it is critical to our safety efforts to inform users that sideloading on Mobile River could come with unparalleled risks , as part of our settlement we will be further simplify the sideloading procedure and updating the speech that informs users about these potential risks of downloading apps directly from the web for the first time , ” said Wilson White , VP , Government Affairs & Public Policy at Google .
Google pointed out in itsblog postthat Android 14 also madethe app upgrade process easierwith more controls for third - party app depot via an API .
This development comes at the time whenGoogle lose its antitrust battle with Epic . Google plans to appeal the finding of fact and reiterated in its web log post that it “ did not recognize the option and competition that our platforms enable ” but the case is “ far from over . ”
The tribulation excavate Google ’s plenty with caller likeSpotify , which paidno commission on Play Storefor in - app purchases .
The Epic v. Google trial showed that the hunt locomotive engine behemoth knows thata 4 % discount rate offered through the user selection charge is not enough for developersto transposition to other operators . developer will also need to compensate fees to those processors , which might be more than the 4 % Google is offering .
In reaction to Google ’s settlement with the state attorney full general , Coriell Wright , frailty president of public policy at Epic Games , said that this payment will bring “ no true succour ” to consumers .
“ Consumers will continue to overpay for digital goods as a event of Google ’s infliction of supracompetitive 30 % fees for Google Play Billing or 26 % junk fees on top of defrayment Google is n’t involved in processing . developer will also go on to be restricted in how they distribute their apps , and developers who choose to employ a third - party payment option will be forced to use Google ’s deceptively labeled “ user pick charge ” organization rather than having creative exemption over the design of their payment systems , ” Wright said in a argument .
Epic added ina web log postthat in the next phase of the pillowcase with Google , the games company will hunt for “ meaningful remedies to in truth unfold up the Android ecosystem . ”
Epic Games won its antitrust battle with Google . But what comes next ?
