The trial of Epic’s antitrust lawsuit against Google decided that big tech has created a monopoly with its app store. Epic’s accusation challenged the practice of charging a fee for sales within the Play Store and, at the same time, preventing payment systems in third-party stores, considering it an abusive and unfair practice. Google told the press that it will appeal the decision.
Epic’s antitrust lawsuit is very reminiscent of the lawsuit filed against Apple — not least because both were filed on the same day. However, in addition to the delay in starting the trial and agility in reaching the result, another difference is that Epic’s lawsuit against Google revealed the big tech’s agreement with smartphone manufacturers.
In this agreement, Google allowed some companies (such as Netflix and Spotify) to have an advantage or discount in the payment of fees for in-app purchases and through their own means of collection. In the case of Netflix, Google offered a 10% fee — but streaming preferred only to prevent the subscription within the Android app.
Spotify was free of its own payment method fee for a while and paid only 4% when the customer subscribed using Google’s system. The case was revealed during the trial and a separate defeat, as it should lead other companies to negotiate an advantageous settlement.
Outcome set, but not what will be done
Despite Epic’s victory, the trial has yet to decide what Google will have to do to “break” the monopoly. In fact, the game developer didn’t even ask for compensation. What Epic wants is for Google to allow companies to launch app stores and their own payment systems without having to give a penny to big tech. The definition of the compensation will be defined in the second week of January.
Remembering, in the lawsuit against Apple, Epic was the big loser, but it fell shooting. Of the ten accusations, only one was favorable to the developer: the one that allows apps to inform about payment methods outside the Apple Store.
