Google has been forced to fork out $700 million to U.S. customers.
The firm is in hot water again just a week after it lost to Epic Games in its antitrust case after it was ruled that the Google Play store is a monopoly.
Tim Sweeney’s firm scored a major victory after the federal jury found that Google had a monopoly over Android apps.
And on Dec. 18, the tech giant agreed to pay the compensation after it settled a court case with all 50 states.
Google was accused of having illegal restrictions and overcharging consumers for items bought in the app store. It must now come up with a new payment system for in-app purchases and Google purchases.
Around 102 million people across the U.S. will receive at least $2 for their Play Store expenses made between Aug. 16, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2023.
Wilson White, Google’s vice president for government affairs and public policy, said the outcome “builds on Android’s choice and flexibility, maintains strong security protections, retains Google’s ability to compete with other [operating system] makers and invests in the Android ecosystem for users and developers.”
Come January, Google could be ordered to make further changes to its Play Store as part of Epic’s suit. Google has denied being at fault.
