Google Play is target of EU antitrust investigation

The European Commission’s antitrust enforcers are investigating Google Play Store developed by Google (Alphabet unit), as stated in a regulatory filing.

According to Google's quarterly earnings filing released on October 25, the European Commission (EC) and the Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) began to look into Google Play practices in May 2022.

The EU antitrust enforcers opened an investigation on the impact of Google's threats to ban some apps from its Play Store. According to Reuters, app developers will have to use third-party payment providers instead of their own billing system.

In addition to this, Google said Thursday that it would appeal the charge, which included a record-breaking 4.1-billion-euro fine, at Europe's top court. The charge against Google found that the company abused its market dominance in the mobile operating systems market. Last month, a lower tribunal dismissed Google's challenge to the EC finding. 

Google officials announced that they were preparing the appeal. The deadline for the court is Dec. 1.