Last month on World Book Day (April 23rd), I was surprised to learn that Google Play offered interactive e-books on its platform for zero fee. At first sight, Google seems to have a vast array of books that can be accessed for either nothing to pay, or a moderate price, as per Amazon and other e-book retailers.
I was, however, surprised that Google has pitched its hat into this arena as rumors have abound in recent years as to the plethora of apps being deleted from its Play Store in order “to ensure dangerous apps that could be mining user data are destroyed” and even to accommodate the various bans (i.e., Tiktok, Truth Social, Fortnite).
As a lifelong Mac user, Google has not come into my radar aside from helping out friends with their PC problems and specific projects I have worked on that tangentially involve ensuring certain compatibility.
However, the recent legal challenges by Epic Games to Google Play and the Apple App Store made me wonder to what degree this branching out into the book market might be an attempt by Google to shake things up.
Since many companies are no longer supporting Google apps for Android, many are ditching the Google App Store entirely, among which are Amazon. I have been wondering if the recent Epic Games lawsuits might be a win-win for the smaller app store markets.
For instance, it is not coincidental that Amazon has thrown in the towel on the Google App store since the Amazon Appstore was repeatedly mentioned in Google’s 2023 antitrust case with Epic Games. While Google consistently maintained that Amazon’s presence in the market supported its position that the Play Store was not an illegal monopoly, Epic put forth expert testimony contending that the Amazon Appstore was only present on 0.1% of Android phones which says nothing about the numbers of people who were actually using the store they had installed. This rendered the antitrust aspect more potent than ever.
As a result of its loss in the historical antitrust case, the April ruling that revolves around allegations that the tech giant has illegally monopolized several markets, including search, ad tech, and the broader internet, Google is against the wall. It looks like Google may be forced to open Android up to third-party app stores by sharing the Google Play app catalog and distributing this with other stores. That would, in turn, give a boost to platforms like Epic Games and Microsoft. Yet, Google was not the only company caught in the crosshairs of Epic Games.
Apple was also called into court against Epic Games in 2020, in which the court focused on mobile gaming transactions only to find that Apple was not a monopoly, but was instead competing against Google and others. Despite the favorable ruling for Apple, the court also acknowledged that Apple’s control over app distribution was a legitimate concern for security and that Apple could seek a fee for the use of its intellectual property. And in a new filing, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers confirms the court has received Epic Games’ latest motion, where it demands that Apple approve Fortnite for distribution on its App Store or return to court.
The legal battle between various software creators and Google Play and Apple is a complex one, with the core issue being the dominance of these platforms in controlling app distribution and in-app payments. From the various accusations of breaking antitrust laws within the United States, Google Play and Apple offer a wide catalogue of apps that range from Teletubbies for your wee ones to trading platforms for your father-in-law. The outcomes of these legal challenges, however, are leading to significant changes in how these platforms operate and the prospect of the rise of alternative app stores and greater choice for developers and consumers.
While Google Play’s app market is losing its foothold with a 47% decline in apps over the past year, it’s anyone’s guess where things will stand in a year after the antitrust court decisions are enacted and new court cases are filed. In fact, as I write this article, Japan’s Fair Trade Commission is making moves to ban Google and Apple from similarly blocking app store rivals.
It could be that both industry giants have inadvertently set into motion the birth of myriad app stores that might possibly take a larger share of the market than previously conceived. Only time will tell.
