Google Announces $90 Million Settlement Fund For US App Developers
US Android App developers will be able to claim a portion of a settlement from Google set up for web developers. The $90 million settlement was made with app developers over the tech giant’s app store practices.
The proposed settlement is designed to address app developers’ years-long allegations that Google imposes onerous and anticompetitive restrictions on app makers as a condition of hosting their apps on its Google Play Store.
“A vast majority of U.S. developers who earned revenue through Google Play will be eligible to receive money from this fund, if they choose,” Google said in a blog post announcing the agreement, which is open to app-makers who earned $2 million or less annually from the Google Play Store between 2016 and 2021.
The deal, which includes several other provisions aimed at benefiting small app makers, marks another shift in the long-running tussle between large tech platforms with significant power to determine what apps wind up on consumer smartphones and the app developers who supply the software.App developers have previously objected to the amount of money Apple and Google charge them as a cut of their app revenues.
Both companies have maintained that their app stores provide an important service and that the platforms have richly rewarded app developers as a whole.
Under the settlement announced Thursday, Google said it would continue a pricing model established last year that allows US app developers to pay a lower fee, 15%, for the first $1 million in annual revenue collected from the Google Play Store.
