News The Terms of Play Store Settlement between US States and Google Revealed --
Google will pay $700 million to make a few Play Store changes.
The details of the antitrust settlement between U.S. states and Google were revealed on Monday, 18 December, which includes the creation of a huge fund for consumers and state payouts in addition to Play Store changes to increase the options available to consumers and app developers.
Some say that the proposed changes and penalties do not suffice. A recent article from The Verge describes the Google modifications to the app store as "tiny" and some of Google's concessions as "exceedingly small."
The Settlement
Reuters reports that the $700 million settlement comprises $600 million to go into a fund to help consumers and $70 million which will go to a trust fund for use by states. This case was brought by California, North Carolina, New York, Tennessee and Utah, but all 50 states, and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico as well as Puerto Rico, as well as the Virgin Islands are involved in the settlement.
According to The Associated Press, the settlement is applicable to an estimated 102 millions U.S. consumers who purchased Play Store in-app purchases from the 16th of August. 16th, 2016 until Sept. 30, 2023.
Google claims it will simplify the process for users to download applications directly from the developers, and it will expand the ways that game and app developers provide alternative payment choices to customers for In-app purchases, Reuters reports.
Google has released an announcement regarding the agreement reached by Google's VP of Government Affairs & Public Policy Wilson White. In regards to when changes could happen, the statement ends with "These proposed changes will go into effect when the Court has formally approved the settlement."
The settlement was agreed upon in September, but per Reuters the agreement was not made public due to the related trial in the case between Google as well as Epic Games.
CNN adds that, while the states had planned to be involved with Epic Games in litigating the matter against Google, the states decided to settle the case in conjunction with Google and then resigned out of the court. Epic is still moving forward with a determination to impose more penalties on Google.
Epic Games released a statement about the settlement by Epic's Vice President of Public Policy Corie Wright, calling Google's User Choice Billing system "deceptively-labeled" and arguing that "the States' settlement does not address the core of Google's unlawful and anticompetitive behavior. The next stage of the lawsuit, Epic will seek meaningful remedies to truly open up the Android ecosystem to ensure that users and developers can truly benefit from the competition that U.S. antitrust laws were intended to foster."