Google will pay $90 million to end monopoly lawsuit

O Google agreed to pay $90 million to settle a lawsuit with app developers involving monopoly practices. The company is being accused of using vendor agreements, revenue sharing and technical barriers to shut down the ecosystem and divert most payments through Google Play.

That $90 million would be deposited and distributed from a fund to support app developers who earn $2 million or less in annual revenue between 2016 and 2021. The minimum payout would be $250, according to Hagens Berman Sobol. Shapiro LLP, who represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. According to the Reutersthere are about 48,000 developers of applications qualified to request fund values.

Google also said it will charge a 15% commission of developers over their first million in Google Play Store revenue each year, a shift that started in 2021. The company used to charge a standard 30% service fee.

Purely illustrative image (Shutterstock)Source: Shutterstock

There is still no formal decision, but the court must approve the settlement proposed by Google. Legislation that would prevent companies like Google and Apple from “prioritizing” their own payment systems, authorizing the use of third-party alternatives, is also being considered in the United States, South Korea and the European Union.