Alphabet Inc’s Google told a California federal court that it will begin allowing US users to download third-party app stores within its Google Play Store beginning the week of July 19.
In a court filing late on July 14, Google said it was withdrawing a bid to alter the final judgment in its antitrust case with Fortnite-maker Epic Games Inc, a move that effectively brings the long-running lawsuit to a close.
US District Judge James Donato had ordered Google to allow rival marketplaces as downloads within the Play Store as a way to help Android users more easily switch to alternatives to Google.
In March, the Android-maker proposed to instead allow alternate app stores onto Android phones after registration, a process that would bypass the requirement that Google host rival marketplaces in its Play Store. Google said that change would have allowed it to roll out a global solution that also complies with new regulatory requirements in Europe and elsewhere.
Donato had scheduled a hearing for mid-July to assess Google’s proposed changes. An economist hired by the court to assess Google’s proposal, however, took issue with the placement of rival marketplaces outside the Play Store. Most Android users are conditioned to search for app downloads within the Play Store, said Nancy Rose, a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"I am not persuaded that the Registered App Store program will do the work that distribution through Google Play” does, she said in a July 10 report. "An entrant marketing an app store through web download must persuade the user to leave the mobile environment she knows, navigate to a possibly unfamiliar site, and complete an installation there. An app store available within Play converts the same marketing into an installation inside the store the user already uses.”
In a statement, Google said it agreed to withdraw the proposal to avoid "prolonging this process which creates uncertainty for the ecosystem” and that it will continue to comply with the other terms required by Donato’s order.
Epic didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the court filing. – Bloomberg
