Wisconsin’s Department of Justice announced this week the state will receive part of a $700 million settlement with Google after a lawsuit was filed against the company related to anticompetitive conduct with the Google Play Store. The exact amount that Wisconsin will receive was not disclosed.
Google will pay $630 million in restitution to consumers who made purchases on the Google Play Store between August 2016 and September 2023 and were harmed by Google’s anticompetitive practices. Affected consumers will receive automatic payments through PayPal or Venmo, or they can elect to receive a check or ACH transfer.
Google will put the remaining $70 million into a states’ monetary fund, which will be used to settle claims made by each state that joined the lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed against Google alleged the company monopolized Android app distribution and in-app payment processing and that Google signed anticompetitive contracts to prevent other app stores from being preloaded on Android devices. The company is also accused of buying off key app developers who might have launched rival app stores and creating technological barriers to deter consumers from directly downloading apps to their devices.
“Consumers shouldn’t have to pay extra because of anticompetitive practices,” said Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul in a statement.
As part of the settlement, Google must allow developers to offer cheaper prices for their apps and in-app products for consumers who use an alternative, non-Google billing system for at least five years. The company must also give all developers the ability to allow users to pay through in-app billing systems other than Google Play Billing for at least five years. The installation of third-party apps from outside the Google Play Store will be allowed for at least seven years.
“Google disputes the claims alleged in the (lawsuit) and believes it has strong defenses to these claims,” according to the settlement. “The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing, fault, liability, or damage of any kind.”
