Google Play Store users in Washington state are eligible for a share of a multistate $700 million antitrust lawsuit settlement reached against the tech giant.
Filed in July 2021 by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, the lawsuit accused Google of using anticompetitive practices to insulate its app distribution service, Google Play Store, from competition. The practice forced Android app developers to raise app prices for users in order to pay Google’s exorbitant fees, according to the suit.
Eligible consumers in Washington will receive at least $2, with additional payments depending on how much they spent in the Play Store between August 2016 and September 2023.
An estimated 2.9 million Washingtonians have Android phones, though only those who paid for apps through the Play Store, or paid for in-app purchases, are eligible, the AG’s office said.
“This resolution stops Google from rigging the system and creates a more level playing field,” Ferguson said in a statement.
The lawsuit asserted that Google’s anticompetitive tactics included, among others, blocking non-Google Play Store apps from advertising on Google’s search platforms. Ferguson argued that those practices have helped Google dominate the Android app distribution market, with well over 90% of all Android apps downloaded from Google Play Store.
In addition to paying $700 million, Google is also required to make changes to how it operates Play Store. The Verge reported that, “If you add it all up, it does make for a slightly different Google app store landscape than we’ve experienced over the past decade and change.” But the concessions have expiration dates, and many are not real concessions, The Verge noted. Full details on the changes can also be read on the attorney general’s website.
Google’s payment to states will include $630 million for consumer reimbursements through the states’ case and private consumers who filed a separate lawsuit. The remaining $70 million will be split between the original group of 38 states and Washington, D.C., that filed the lawsuit, for civil penalties and to pay for costs and fees associated with the case.
