US judge says 'monopolist' Google can't avoid app store reforms

A U.S. judge on Wednesday said he was planning to issue an order forcing Alphabet's Google to give Android users more ways to download apps, but would not micromanage the tech giant's business, following a jury verdict last year for "Fortnite" maker Epic Games.

U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco heard from technology experts and lawyers for Epic and Google about proposed reforms in the blockbuster antitrust case.

Donato showed impatience for Google's protests about the costs and difficulty of implementing many of Epic's proposals, and signaled he would issue a ruling that would maximize users' and developers' flexibility to download and distribute apps outside the Play store.

"You're going to end up paying something to make the world right after having been found to be a monopolist," Donato said.

He said his injunction will be about three pages long and will ensure Google knows what the "rules of the road are."

Donato said he will rule in the coming weeks and set up a three-person compliance and technical committee to implement and monitor the injunction.

"Google foreclosed competition for years and years and years. We're opening the gate now and letting competitors come in," Donato said.

Google and Epic declined to comment on the hearing.

Epic's lawsuit accused Google of monopolizing how consumers access apps on Android devices and how they pay for in-app transactions.

The Cary, North Carolina-based company persuaded a jury in December 2023 that Google unlawfully stifled competition through its controls over app distribution and payments.

Epic has asked Donato to require Google to make it easier for Android users to download apps from third-party app stores, such as Epic's, and from other internet sources. It also wants the court to forbid Google from automatically installing its Play store on Android devices.

Google has denied harming competition, and it told Donato that Epic's proposals "would make it nearly impossible" for the Alphabet unit to compete and harm consumer privacy and security.

Google lawyer Glenn Pomerantz told Donato on Wednesday that Google should not be forced to distribute its rivals' app stores. "Competition will be worse if you impose a duty that you have to deal with your competitor," Pomerantz said.

Epic's lawyer Gary Bornstein urged the court to direct Google to act quickly to implement his injunction.

Google faces another threat to its business practices in a separate government lawsuit in Washington, D.C. challenging the company's dominant search engine.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled for the U.S. Justice Department and said Google had illegally monopolized web search, spending billions to become the internet's default search engine. Google has denied the claims.

Mehta has set a Sept. 6 hearing to discuss a timeline for the court to impose remedies on Google in that case.