Google has been hit with another massive antitrust lawsuit over its app store policies

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Well, it’s another day, so that means it’s time for another antitrust lawsuit against a major tech company. This time it’s Google who, once again, has become the target of a nationwide antitrust lawsuit filed by 36 different states and Washington, D.C.

This particular suit was filed in the California federal courts. According to a new report from Business Insider, Attorneys general from the 36 states and Washington, D.C. filed this suit against Google, claiming that the company has monopolistic control over the app store landscape on Android smartphones.

This is just the latest in a relatively long list of lawsuits that have been filed against Google in the past. According to the report mentioned above, this lawsuit claims that Google works to ensure no other app store gets a fair shot on Android devices.

The suit claims that by refusing advertisements for other stores on Google’s major platforms, like YouTube, the company has essentially created an environment where no other app store can succeed. This has led to the Google Play app store controlling around 90% of the app store market on Android smartphones.

Google’s lawsuit looks pretty familiar

The new lawsuit also targets the company’s soon-to-be-updated commission plan. The company will soon require a tax of 30% from developers using its app store. This new fee would bring Google’s app store in line with Apple, which finds itself in the middle of a similar suit filed by Epic Games.

Google has responded to the lawsuit with a message: “The complaint is peppered with inflammatory language designed to distract from the fact that our rules on Android and Google Play benefit consumers…This lawsuit isn’t about helping the little guy or protecting consumers. It’s about boosting a handful of major app developers who want the benefits of Google Play without paying for it.” 

Well, isn’t all of that exciting? There’s nothing like a good old nationwide antitrust lawsuit against one of the biggest platforms in the world to really kick off the summer. For now, we’ll have to wait and see what comes of this suit.

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