Google is appealing a ruling issued by U.S. District Judge James Donato in California on Monday, which could significantly reduce its control over the distribution of Android apps.
The federal judge ordered Google to make its app store, Google Play, accessible to third-party app stores and to allow software developers to distribute Android apps directly to users of Android smartphones and tablets. This case, filed by Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, challenges Google’s dominance in the Android app market. The judge has mandated that Google implement measures to revoke its current policy that restricts third-party developers from distributing Android apps, whether through competing app stores or via direct downloads from their websites.
In its quarterly financial report for the period ending June 30, 2024, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced that Google Services generated nearly $74 billion in revenue, an increase of over $11 billion from the same quarter in 2023. Google Services encompasses various products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Google Maps, Google Play, Search, and YouTube. Google charges a 15% commission on the first $1 million in annual revenue earned by developers through the Play Store, and 30% on any earnings beyond that. Additionally, software using an annual subscription model incurs a 15% fee each year. This ruling could significantly affect Google’s Play Store revenue and its ability to charge a commission on in-app purchases, which currently must go through Google’s payment system.
In a blog post, Lee-Anne Mulholland, Alphabet’s vice president of regulatory affairs, expressed concerns that these changes could jeopardize consumer privacy and security, complicate app promotion for developers, and diminish competition among device makers. She argued that while the alterations may appease Epic, they are likely to result in unintended consequences detrimental to American consumers, developers, and manufacturers.
Google is challenging the ruling by pointing to a prior case involving Epic and Apple, where a judge ruled in favor of Apple. Mulholland noted that the changes requested by Epic contradict the findings in that earlier case. “Unlike iOS, Android is an open platform that has always facilitated choice and flexibility through options like multiple app stores and sideloading,” she explained.
The comparison to Apple’s iOS and the App Store is central to Google’s appeal. The company argues that Epic’s suggestions undermine its capacity to enforce trust and safety regulations that protect Android users.
Mulholland further suggested that opening the Android platform would complicate software development. “Developers have limited resources and must decide how much time and money to allocate for building and updating their apps on each platform,” she stated. “Like any business, Google encourages developers to highlight their best features on Android and to prioritize launching them there. We provide tools, training programs, and other resources to simplify the development process for Android, just as Apple does with iOS to attract developers.”
