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WASHINGTON — A group of dozen states and the District of Columbia sued Google on Wednesday alleging that its mobile app store abused market power and expanded the legal challenges the internet search giant faces.
The lawsuit will be the fourth state or federal antitrust lawsuit against Google since October, but the first to examine the company’s lucrative app store. It was filed in federal court in the Northern District of California. according to a public fileThis showed the team led by Utah, North Carolina, New York and Tennessee.
Mobile app developers are questioning the way Google uses its own system for payments inside their products. This system takes a 30 percent commission on top of many transactions, which the developers say force them to charge higher prices for their services later on.
Apple, which operates the other major app store for smartphones, is also under scrutiny for the cut it takes from developers for app sales and subscriptions. Epic Games, creator of Fortnite, sued Apple for antitrust last year accused him of abusing market power to charge unfairly high commissions from app makers. one is waiting decision on the case next month.
Other antitrust complaints against Google have focused on search and advertising. The Justice Department sued the company last year. over allegations that he illegally maintains his monopoly on online search advertising. A later lawsuit by state attorneys general accused Google of abusing its power over its advertising technology, and they sued separately for squeezing smaller search services.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The case was previously reported by Bloomberg.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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