Photographer: Gabby Jones / Bloomberg
Photographer: Gabby Jones / Bloomberg
At least three U.S. states are investigating Google Alphabet Inc. charges fees needed by developers for purchases and subscriptions to apps, and they can file an antitrust lawsuit against the company early next year, according to people who are familiar with the issue.
Attorneys general in Utah, North Carolina and New York are among the states that are preparing a lawsuit, which had not been previously reported and could be filed as early as January, people said, who asking them not to identify themselves because the matter is not is not public.
Read: Google will increase the drive for apps to reduce in-app purchases
An antitrust lawsuit against Google for its app store would mark a new attack on the search engine giant’s business practices. On Thursday, a group of 38 attorneys general, including New York, North Carolina and Utah, sued the company in federal court in Washington, accusing it of abusing its domain in online searches. This case went beyond the claims filed by the Justice Department in an October lawsuit and came a day after a 10-state lawsuit alleging that Google illegally thwarted competition in display advertising in line.
Google App Store Practice Research examines the 30% discount your Google Play Store takes from developers for in-app purchases. This is the feature that allows users to subscribe to services or purchase in-app updates. Google’s 30% discount drops to 15% for users who subscribe to an app for a year or more. Apple Inc. it has the same policy.
Research shows that U.S. attorneys general continue to pressure dominant tech companies for behavior that they say has harmed competition in digital markets. New York, North Carolina and Utah were among the states that sued Facebook Inc. earlier this month, arguing that its Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions violated antitrust laws and should be repealed.
Attorneys General for Utah, North Carolina and New York did not respond immediately to requests for comment after normal business hours.
Google said in response to a research query that Android allows customers to use app stores other than Google Play.
“Android has always allowed people to get apps from various app stores,” Sameer Samat, vice president of Android and Google Play, said in a statement. “Each store can decide its own business model and its consumption characteristics. This opening means that even if a developer and Google do not agree on the business terms, the developer can still distribute on the Android platform. “
Google has long been looking for apps to offer the company it cut, but several apps and services, including Netflix Inc. and Spotify Technology SA, have been exempt. In September, Google decided to step up efforts to collect fees and eventually remove apps from its store that don’t implement Google’s payment system that gives the company the set percentage.
The 30% reduction is the same as Apple does for developers, but the iPhone maker in recent months yes reduce this amount. It started allowing some services not to pay the percentage of purchases from the app and recently launched a developer program that generated revenue or less than $ 1 million a year to pay for only a 15% reduction in its app sales to Apple.
– With the assistance of Tina Davis