Judge delays ruling that Google must open App Store to competitors

A federal judge on Friday postponed an order requiring Google to open its Android app store to more competition until an appeals court decides whether to allow the restructuring because of legal questions related to a jury's verdict that branded Google an illegal monopolist , should be blocked.

The delay, granted at a court hearing in San Francisco, comes less than two weeks after U.S. District Judge James Donato issued a ruling that would have forced Google to make sweeping changes to its Play Store for Android smartphones starting Nov. 1.

Among the mandated changes was a provision that would have required Google to make its library of more than 2 million Android apps available to any competitors that wanted access to the inventory, and to also distribute the alternative options in its own Play Store .

Google asked to stay Donato's order until the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals could review the handling of a month-long trial that led to the December 2023 ruling that called the Play Store an illegal monopoly that stifles innovation and drives up consumer prices .

At Friday's hearing, Donato scoffed at the idea that Google could succeed in overturning the ruling. “The verdict in this case was sufficiently supported by a wealth of evidence of Google’s anti-competitive conduct,” the judge said.

But he ruled that the Ninth Circuit should be given the opportunity to consider a delay until a panel of judges can decide whether to consider Google's appeal of the 2023 trial, which focuses on antitrust claims by video game maker Epic Games.

Donato said he wouldn't be surprised if the Ninth Circuit delayed its decision even longer, “but that's for someone else to decide.”

In a statement, Google said it was pleased that Donato had hit the pause button while it tried to extend the delay even further.

“These remedies threaten Google Play’s ability to provide a safe experience, and we look forward to continuing to make our case to protect 100 million U.S. Android users, over 500,000 U.S. developers, and thousands of partners powered by our platforms have benefited,” said Google.

Epic referred to Donato's critical comments about the merits of Google's appeal in a statement that called the suspension a “procedural step.”

It's unclear how long it will take the Ninth Circuit to rule on Google's request for a permanent stay of the Donato ruling while its appeals proceed – a process that could take more than a year.

In 2021, as part of another antitrust case brought by Epic, the Ninth Circuit delayed a provision of another federal judge's order requiring Apple to allow links to alternative payment systems with apps for the iPhone.

Although Apple avoided being labeled an illegal monopolist in a lawsuit against the iPhone App Store, the company unsuccessfully fought the rule requiring the company to allow alternative payment links within apps. However, delaying this requirement left Apple with exclusive control of a payment system that has generated commissions of between 15 and 30% on some in-app e-commerce transactions. Apple exhausted its appeal options to the US Supreme Court earlier this year.

Google also collects billions of dollars annually from a similar commission system in its Play Store for Android phones – a system that is allowed to remain in place as long as Google can prevent Donato's ruling from taking effect.

In its arguments for delaying Donato's order, Google said it didn't have enough time to make the drastic changes, which it called “a Herculean task that poses an unacceptable risk of security deficiencies in the Android ecosystem.” In its Friday statement, Epic called Google's tactics “fear mongering.”

Google also argued that the restructuring would impose disproportionate costs, a claim Donato also brushed aside at Friday's hearing.

“I don't want to talk about it lightly, but the costs that Google could incur seem like a drop in the bucket compared to the profits the company makes annually from the Play Store,” Donato said.

-Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press