Tag: play store

Google Refused to Be Given Interim Stay on CCI Fine by NCLAT

In a setback for Google, an appellate tribunal on Wednesday refused an interim stay on the competition regulator imposing a Rs. 936-crore penalty on the US tech giant for abusing its dominant position in the market.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal directed Google to deposit 10 percent of the fine that was slapped by the Competition Commission of India in a case related to its Play Store policies.

A week back, Google failed to get relief from the NCLAT on a separate Rs. 1,337.76 crore fine imposed by CCI on alleged abuse of the dominant position that the US tech giant has in the Android smartphone operating system in the country. It was asked to deposit 10 percent of the fine within four weeks.

Google challenged that order before the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear it on Monday.

While in the first case, CCI had in October last year asked Google to allow smartphone users on the Android platform to uninstall apps and let them select a search engine of their choice, the regulator had stated that the company to take corrective steps on policies that forced developers to use Google Play’s billing system to list their apps on its Play Store.

A two-member bench of NCLAT comprising Justice Rakesh Kumar and Alok Srivastava on Wednesday issued notices to CCI and posted the matter for hearing on April 17, 2023.

A mail sent to Google for comments did not elicit a response.

Senior advocate Harish Salve said that the US firm has appealed the Play Store and Android decisions because the Commission failed to account for the adverse impacts on users, developers and manufacturers.

Google will, in the hearings before the NCLAT, endeavour to establish that the CCU’s directions put in peril technology, security and the choice that Play and Android provide.

It will also endeavour to establish that the Commission failed to consider the benefits of Play and Android to Indian end-users, including benefits such as enabling mobile access (and thereby furthering the goal of increased teledensity, which is at the heart of the push for Digital India) as well as protecting end-users from malware and abusive billing practices.

Google’s business model for its Play Store is linked to the business model of the app developers. When app developers distribute their apps for free, there is no charge. Where the app developers sell their apps or sell digital content within the app to the end-users, Google receives a service fee.

This, Google says, has been done for technical, security and commercial reasons.

On October 25, CCI imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies. The regulator had also directed the company to cease and desist from unfair business practices as well as carry out various measures to address the anti-competitive issues within a defined timeline.

Google had subsequently said it is “pausing” enforcement of the requirement for developers to use Play’s billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services for transactions by users in India while it reviews legal options, in the aftermath of the recent ruling by the CCI.

“Following the CCI’s recent ruling, we are pausing enforcement of the requirement for developers to use Google Play’s billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services for transactions by users in India while we review our legal options and ensure we can continue to invest in Android and Play,” Google said in an update on help centre page on November 1.

The search engine giant has faced criticism globally for mandating software developers using its app store to only use its proprietary in-app payment system that charge a commission of up to 30 per cent on purchases made within an app.

Google is also facing a separate probe into its business conduct in the news content and Smart TV market in India.

Following the landmark rulings by CCI, Google filed appeals before the NCLAT against the two orders. 

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Google Said to Pay $400 Million to Settle Location-Tracking Lawsuit

Alphabet’s Google will pay about $400 million (nearly Rs. 3,200 crore) to settle a complaint brought by a group of states over allegations the search and advertising giant illegally tracked users’ locations, two people familiar with the matter said.

The announcement will come as early as Monday, the sources said.

The lawsuit, which includes Oregon, the people said, is a sign of mounting legal headaches for the tech company from state attorneys general who have aggressively targeted the firm’s user tracking practices in recent months.

Arizona filed a similar case against Google and settled it for $85 million (nearly Rs. 690 crore) in October 2022.

Texas, Indiana, Washington State and the District of Columbia sued Google in January over what they called deceptive location-tracking practices that invade users’ privacy.

Google and Oregon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Google had revenue of $111 billion (nearly Rs. 8,99,100 crore) from advertising in the first half of this year, more than any other seller of online ads. A consumer’s location is key to helping an advertiser cut through the digital clutter to make the ad more relevant and grab the consumer’s attention.

Earlier last month, it was reported that the European anti-trust regulators are investigating Alphabet unit Google’s Play Store, the company said in a regulatory filing, a move that could expose the US tech giant to another billion-euro fine.

Over the last decade, Google has incurred EUR 8.25 billion (nearly Rs. 67,900 crore) in EU antitrust fines following three investigations into its business practices.

EU antitrust regulators are investigating whether Google’s threat to remove apps from its Play Store if app developers use other payment options instead of its own billing system has hurt the developers, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters in August.

Fees charged by Google and Apple at their mobile app stores have drawn criticism from developers who say they are excessive.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

 

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Google Said to Be Planning to Legally Challenge India’s Antitrust Crackdown on Android

Google is planning a legal challenge to block a ruling by India’s antitrust watchdog to change its approach to its Android operating system, concerned that it will restrict how it promotes the platform, sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

The Alphabet unit has been fined $275 million (nearly Rs. 2,300 crore) in two Indian antitrust decisions since last week — one for its policies of charging in-app commissions and another for abusing its position in the market for Android operating system.

The rulings come as Google faces increased antitrust scrutiny across the world. Last month, it suffered a major setback when a European court upheld a 2018 ruling saying it was largely confirming a decision that the company imposed “unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices.” Google plans to appeal the decision, where it faces a record $4.1 billion (nearly Rs. 33,800 crore) fine.

The Competition Commission of India‘s (CCI) Android ruling, despite involving a smaller $162 million (nearly Rs. 1,300 crore) fine, has worried Google since it seeks wider ranging remedial measures, three sources aware of company’s thinking said.

One of the sources said that Google was concerned that the CCI’s decision could increase regulatory pressures in other jurisdictions and a legal appeal to block implementation of the antitrust directive was being planned within weeks.

Google declined to comment on its legal plans, reiterating its statement from last week that the CCI order was “a major setback for Indian consumers and businesses, opening serious security risks… and raising the cost of mobile devices for Indians.”

Abhishek Manu Singhvi, lead counsel for Google in its arguments before the CCI, tweeted on Wednesday that “inherent & patent infirmities” in the order make a challenge inevitable and likely to succeed.

Google has faced criticism globally that it licenses its Android operating system to smartphones players but signs restrictive agreements that are anti-competitive. The US firm maintains that Android has created more choice for everyone and such agreements help keep the operating system free.

In the European Commission case, for example, its antitrust authority in 2018 ruled Google abused its dominant position by forcing manufacturers to pre-install two of its apps — Google Search and its Chrome browser — together with its Google Play store on Android devices.

The Indian order, one of the sources said, is concerning as it goes further and imposes restrictions on a wider array of Google apps — “Licensing of Play Store … shall not be linked with the requirement of pre-installing” Google search services, Chrome browser, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail or any other application of Google,” the CCI noted.

Faisal Kawoosa, founder of Indian research firm Techarc, said such pre-installation restrictions could force Google to think of different revenue models such as charging device makers a licence fee for Android in India, as they did in Europe.

“The CCI directions strike at the heart of Google’s revenue model for Android — which relies on a volume game where larger the user base is, multiple the avenues to monetize,” Kawoosa said.

In Europe, 75 percent of 550 million smartphones run on Android, compared with 97 percent of 600 million devices in India, Counterpoint Research estimates.

Google is also concerned that the CCI has ordered it not to impose any restrictions in India on so-called “sideloading”, a practice of downloading apps without using an app store, and to allow other app stores to be available within its Play Store, two of the sources said.

These are, however, expected to lift the prospects of domestic rivals, such as Indus App Bazaar, which offer thousands of apps in English and local languages. The order “will give rise to more choice and innovation for Indian developers,” Indus said this week.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

 

Buying an affordable 5G smartphone today usually means you will end up paying a “5G tax”. What does that mean for those looking to get access to 5G networks as soon as they launch? Find out on this week’s episode. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Google Play Store for Tablets With Redesigned Interface, Navigation Rail Released: Report

Google Play Store for tablets has reportedly received an update that includes a redesigned interface. The update adds a navigation rail that shows up on user interaction at the top left corner, instead of the always-visible rail seen previously, while also featuring a narrower search box and logo intended to free up screen space. Google is currently utilising the freed-up screen space for larger app icons. The redesign makes Play Store one of the first 20 Google apps to optimise design for tablets, according to a report.

The latest update to Play Store version 32.5.16-21 brings a new design aimed at improving the experience on tablets, as per a report by 9to5Google. The update sees the app store leverage a pill-shaped active indicator for the navigation rail which drops down upon user interaction. The approach is intended to make the app design more compact, while freeing up empty space, according to the report.

Buttons for Google Play Points, notifications, and profile avatar remain on the right, as seen in the design for tablets prior to the update to version 32.5.16-21. As per the report, there are no other visible changes to the interface in terms of app listings or any other part of the Play Store.

The portrait orientation of the Play Store now matches the UI seen on the version of the application for phones, but utilises the new compact logo and search field.

Editorial content is now featured using two cards fitting side-by-side. The redesign comes as part of Google’s wider overhaul of the Play Store which will utilise cards instead of full-width carousels. Google’s intention to make this design shift for tablets was made public at the Google I/O 2022 conference, which featured a render featuring a “Top charts” section in the form of cards instead of the traditionally seen full-width carousel.

However, the redesigned interface appears to be restricted to tablet devices and isn’t visible on any Chromebook devices as of now, according to the report.

 

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Google Agrees to Pay $90 Million to Settle Legal Fight With App Developers

Alphabet’s Google has agreed to pay $90 million (nearly Rs. 711 crore) to settle a legal fight with app developers over the money they earned creating apps for Android smartphones and for enticing users to make in-app purchases, according to a court filing.

The app developers, in a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco, had accused Google of using agreements with smartphone makers, technical barriers and revenue sharing agreements to effectively close the app ecosystem and shunt most payments through its Google Play billing system with a default service fee of 30 percent.

As part of the proposed settlement, Google said in a blog post it would put $90 million in a fund to support app developers who made $2 million (nearly Rs. 15 crore) or less in annual revenue from 2016-2021.

“A vast majority of US developers who earned revenue through Google Play will be eligible to receive money from this fund, if they choose,” Google said in the blog post.

Google said it would also continue to charge a 15 percent commission to developers who make $1 million (nearly Rs. 6.5 crore) or less annually from the Google Play Store. It started doing this in 2021.

The court must approve the proposed settlement.

There were likely 48,000 app developers eligible to apply for the $90 million fund, and the minimum payout is $250 (nearly Rs. 19,800), according to Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, who represented the plaintiffs.

Apple agreed last year to loosen App Store restrictions on small developers, striking a deal in a class action. It also agreed to pay $100 million (nearly Rs. 790 crore).

In Washington, Congress is considering legislation that would require Google and Apple to allow sideloading, or the practice of downloading apps without using an app store. It would also bar them from requiring that app providers use Google and Apple’s payment systems.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

 

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