Judge orders Google to open its app stores to third-party app stores and billing options

After a jury found last year that the Google Play Store was effectively a monopoly, the US federal judge presiding over the Epic v. Google case ruled this week that Google needs to open the Play Store to competition for at least three years.

Among other things, that means Google has to allow third-party app stores and third-party in-app billing methods for at least three years.

Currently, you can install third-party app stores on most Android phones, tablets, and other devices. But you need to do that by downloading them from sources other than the Google Play Store and sideloading them onto your device. But you have to jump through several hoops to do that, while most Android devices sold in the US come with the Google Play Store pre-installed, making it the simplest platform for downloading and installing Android apps.

In addition to allowing developers to submit third-party app stores to the Play Store, U.S. District Judge James Donato’s order has some other provisions that would change the way Google does business:

• Google must allow developers who want to sell in-app items or subscriptions to use third-party payment systems (currently apps distributed in the Play Store must use Google’s billing system, which means Google gets a 30% cut of sales).
• Google cannot pay device makers to preinstall the Google Play Store.
• Google also can’t pay developers for exclusive rights to distribute apps or games (preventing them from being offered in alternate app stores.

The judge’s ruling does allow Google to charge a fee to help cover the costs associated with distributing apps and app stores, but it would presumably need to be much lower than the 30% Google currently charges.

Unsurprisingly, Google plans to appeal the ruling, saying it would pose risks to users’ privacy and security and that Google does face competition… from Apple (which operates its own App Store that’s also come under scrutiny for monopolistic practices in the US and European Union).

Meanwhile Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is calling the decision a victory and promising that the Epic Games Store will be coming to the Google Play Store next year…  assuming Google loses its appeal.

It’s also worth noting that the judge’s order places an injunction on Google that runs from Nov 1, 2024 through Nov 1, 2027. That means that even if Google does end up opening the Play Store to more competition, there may be a time limit on how long it will do so.

While big players like Epic may try to make the most of this time by building enough brand recognition that Google wouldn’t dare boot them from the Play Store again (or so that users are comfortable sideloading the Epic Games Store on new devices even if it’s no longer in the Play Store in 2028), I can’t help but wonder if smaller companies will be reluctant to take the risk on distributing apps, games, app stores, or building third-party payment systems that may only be useful for a few years.

via Reuters, The Verge, and The New York Times