The United States Supreme Court rejected Google’s request for a stay on Monday, upholding a lower court’s ruling that ordered the tech giant to reform its app store, Google Play. This move signifies a temporary defeat for the tech giant in its antitrust lawsuit against the popular game “Fortnite” developer, Epic Games.
Epic Games filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in August 2020, accusing Google of abusing its dominant position in app distribution and in-app payments within the Android ecosystem, thus excluding competition and suppressing developer choice.
Last year, California District Judge James Donato ruled that Google must allow users to download competitors’ app stores on the Play Store and open up the app directory to other platforms. This order is set to take effect in July 2026.
Additionally, the court also mandated Google to allow app developers to set up external links within their apps, enabling users to bypass Google’s in-app payment system. This provision will officially come into effect this month.
Subsequently, Google appealed to the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In July this year, a panel of three judges unanimously upheld the original judgment, stating that the evidence clearly demonstrated Google’s conduct of “exclusionary conduct and market consolidation”.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, argued in its submission to the Supreme Court that Donato’s injunction was “unprecedented” and immediate enforcement would cause serious damage to the company’s reputation and platform security, placing it at a disadvantage in the market.
Google warned that the order would impact over 100 million Android users and 500,000 developers in the United States. The company plans to formally appeal by October 27, seeking the Supreme Court to accept the case within the newly opened nine-month term.
Epic Games countered by stating that Google is using “security” as a pretext to maintain its monopoly interests, urging the Supreme Court to allow the injunction to take effect as scheduled to promote market competition and benefit consumers and developers genuinely.
In December 2023, Epic prevailed in a jury trial in San Francisco, where the jury found that Google had abused its dominant position on the Android platform, violating the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 in the United States.
Apart from this case, Google still faces multiple lawsuits filed by governments, consumers, and commercial plaintiffs alleging anticompetitive behavior in the search and advertising fields. The Supreme Court’s refusal in this instance signifies that Google must now prepare to implement structural reforms of its app store in accordance with the lower court’s directives.
(This article referenced reports from Reuters)