A federal judge has ordered Google to make major changes to how its Play Store operates. Last year, a jury in the Epic v. Google case decided that the company's Android app store operated as an illegal monopoly. In his ruling Monday, Judge James Donato ordered Google to open the app store to competition for three years, starting on Nov. 1, the Verge reports. Under the ruling, the Play Store will be required to distribute rival third-party app stores, reports the AP. The company has also been ordered to make the millions of apps in the store accessible to rivals.
In another major change, Google has been ordered to allow more options for paying for digital purchases instead of routing everything through its own payment system, which it collects fees from, the Washington Post reports. For three years, the company is banned from sharing revenue "with any person or entity that distributes Android apps." It will not be allowed to offer developers money or perks for launching apps on the Play Store first—or for keeping them out of rival app stores, the Verge reports. The changes could "transform Android phones into the world's leading laboratory for how technology might change if it were less controlled by Silicon Valley titans," as the Post puts it.
Google makes billions of dollars a year from the Play Store. The company, which says it will need up to 16 months to install the necessary safeguards, plans to appeal the ruling. Epic Games sued Google and Apple on the same day in 2020 in a dispute over payment in its Fortnite game, but Apple won its case. In a blog post, Google said Apple is a competitor and the changes requested "stem from a decision that is completely contrary to another court's rejection of similar claims Epic made against Apple." Google said it would "ask the courts to pause implementing the remedies to maintain a consistent and safe experience for users and developers as the legal process moves forward." (Google lost another big antitrust case in August.)
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