Utah leading a new anti-trust charge against Google over Google Play practices

Jul 7, 2021, 4:41 PM | Updated: Jul 8, 2021, 9:17 am

Digital Content Producer

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Google in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Along with New York, California and other states, Utah is suing Google for practices on Google’s Play Store, said a spokesman for Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.

Play Store is the leading app distributor for phone running the Android operating system, according to reporting by the Deseret News.

“Google is using its hyper-dominant market position to unlawfully leverage billions of added dollars from small companies and consumers,” Reyes told reporters, as reported by the Deseret News.

“We believe these are monopolist actions that need to be addressed immediately.”

Specifically, Reyes said his office is concerned about the fees charged by Google, along with allegations that Google intentionally manipulated the Android operating system to make apps sold outside Google Play perform badly.

Android is owned by Google.

Reyes and the States accuse Google of using its dominance to unfairly restrict competition with Google Play Store, harming consumers by limiting choice and driving up app prices. In addition to Utah, the named party in the filing, the lawsuit is co-led by AGs in New York, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

“Google’s monopoly is a menace to the marketplace. Google Play is not fair play. Google must be held accountable for harming small businesses and consumers. It must stop using its monopolistic power and hyper-dominant market position to unlawfully leverage billions of added dollars from smaller companies, competitors and consumers beyond what should be paid,” said Utah Attorney General Reyes.

This is the third time that Google has faced a multi-state lawsuit calling into question the company’s use of its market dominance.

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