<html><body>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">In order to resolve claims that it was suppressing competition against its Android app store, Google has agreed to pay $700 million and make a number of other concessions. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">This is the same problem that went to trial in a different case that may lead to even more significant changes.</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify"><img alt="Google agrees to pay $700M in Android app store settlement" src="http://gospeedcheck.com/filemanager/data-images/imgs/20240109/google-will-pay-700-million-to-us-states-and-customers.jpg" style="display:block; height:400px; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; width:640px"></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:center"><em>Google agrees to pay $700M in Android app store settlement</em></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">The settlement's contents were disclosed recently in documents submitted to a federal court in San Francisco, although Google and state attorneys general reached an agreement in September. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">The revelation was made one week after a federal court jury censured Google for using anticompetitive practices in its Play Store for Android applications.</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">$630 million of the settlement with the states would go toward compensating American customers who were duped into using a payment processing system that, according to state attorneys general, increased the cost of digital transactions made through applications that could be downloaded from the Play Store. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">The Android OS that runs on the majority of cellphones worldwide is catered to by that store.</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Google charges commissions on in-app purchases ranging from 15% to 30%, much like Apple does in its iPhone app store. </p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">State attorneys general have argued that these costs drove up prices above what they would have if there had been an open market for payment processing.</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Evidence provided during Google's recent Play Store trial indicated that the company made billions of dollars in profit each year from such commissions.</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify">Read more: <a href="https://gospeedcheck.com/article/the-google-play-store-is-unfavorable-for-regular-android-phone-users-1293"><strong>Google Play Store Ruling Is Bad News for Android Users</strong></a></p>
</body></html>