Attorney General James Releases Statement on Settlement in Principle with Google

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James and a bipartisan group of attorneys general from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, have reached an agreement in principle with Google to settle one of three major antitrust lawsuits against the company for its anticompetitive conduct in the Google Play Store. The lawsuit was led by Attorney General James and the attorneys general of California, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah, who released the following statement:

“No company is too big to play by the rules, including Google. We brought this lawsuit because it is illegal to use monopoly power to drive up prices. We appreciate this bipartisan group of attorneys general who fought for a fair marketplace that encourages competition, innovation, and lower prices for consumers. We look forward to finalizing this agreement and sharing more details in the next 30 days.”

In July 2021, Attorney General James co-led a bipartisan coalition with the attorneys general of California, Utah, North Carolina, and Tennessee, in a lawsuit against Google alleging that the company used its monopoly power in the Android app market to inflate prices for paid apps and in-app purchases. Today’s agreement in principle will be finalized over the next 30 days, at which point the details will be made public.