A US court has ruled that Google created an illegal monopoly around its Play app store for Android. Google is appealing the ruling.

A years-long legal dispute between Epic Games and Google has come to a conclusion. In 2021, the game developer is known for Fourteen days, launched a legal battle against Apple and Google after it was banned from their app stores. Among other things, Epic was bothered by the fact that they are obliged to use Google’s payment system and that Google also skips the checkout. The jury has now also decided in favor of Epic Games.

After the final arguments, the verdict was announced yesterday evening. According to The Verge, the jury only needed a few hours of deliberations to conclude that Google has built a monopoly around its Play services. The judgment concerns, among other things, the linking of the app store with the Play Billing payment system, but also agreements that Google has made with app publishers and smartphone manufacturers in order to prevent competing app stores within Android, which was discussed in the oral hearing came to light.

In a blog post on its website, Epic Games uncorked the champagne bottles. The company calls the ruling “a victory for game developers and consumers worldwide.” The company failed to win the similar lawsuit against Apple.

Google is appealing

It is still unclear what direct impact this will have on Google. After all, Epic did not demand any damages from Google; Rather, the lawsuit was a question of principle. However, it may not be without consequences. The ruling could trigger a domino effect as other disgruntled developers speak out and policymakers take even more scrutiny of Google Play.

Google doesn’t want to wait for that and has already indicated that it will appeal. In a response, the company emphasizes that it gives app developers more choice and openness on Android than on “any other major mobile platform” (read: iOS). “We continue to defend the Android business model and remain committed to our users, partners and the broader Android ecosystem,” Google said in a bellicose statement in The Verge.

This lawsuit is completely separate from another major monopoly case currently pending against Google. This refers to the search engine with which Google has dominated the World Wide Web for more than twenty years. During this legal battle, some interesting details came to light, such as a billion-dollar deal between Google and Apple to keep the search engine in the saddle, as well as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s open admission that Google Search is better than Bing be.