Google is fighting a £1 billion UK lawsuit alleging it abused Play Store dominance to extract excessive commissions from millions of Android users.
According to Reuters, the collective action, brought by consumer advocate Liz Coll, is being heard at the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal and represents roughly 20 million people.
The claim alleges Google used its control of Android app distribution to charge commissions of up to 30 per cent on app purchases, subscriptions and in-app transactions. Developers allegedly passed those charges on to consumers through higher prices, leaving Android users to fund Google’s remarkably successful interpretation of an open ecosystem.
Coll’s case argues that Google restricted competition by making the Play Store effectively unavoidable for developers wanting to reach Android users in the UK.
Google denies the allegations and says Android gives consumers significant choice, including competing app stores and other ways to get software. The company argues that its Play Store fees are among the lowest in the industry and that it faces significant competition from Apple’s App Store.
The lawsuit seeks around £1 billion (€1.15 billion) in damages. Google has already spent years fighting regulators and developers over the economics of its app store.
Epic Games sued the company in the US over similar restrictions and eventually reached a global settlement with Google covering changes to Android app distribution and payments.
Google recently agreed to pay £260 million (€299 million) to settle a separate UK collective action brought on behalf of app developers, although it denied liability. The current action focuses on consumers and whether Google’s commission system inflated the prices they paid.
It forms part of a wider series of UK cases targeting fees charged by dominant digital platforms.
Job’s Mob has faced similar claims concerning its App Store, while Sony has been targeted over charges imposed through the PlayStation Store. The Competition Appeal Tribunal will now have to decide whether Google’s ability to charge up to 30 per cent reflected healthy competition or the useful financial advantages of owning the shop, the operating system and much of the road leading customers to both.
