Google and all 50 U.S. states have urged a federal judge to approve a sweeping $700 million consumer settlement to resolve claims that the tech giant inflated app store prices, after the judge in February questioned whether the proposed deal went far enough.
In a pair of court filings late Wednesday, Google and the states told U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco that the settlement was “fair, reasonable, and adequate.”
The states touted the amount of the settlement and the changes that the Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit promised to implement as part of the agreement. Google in its filing said its commitments to overhaul its app store Play were "unprecedented." Both sides called the accord a compromise.
Donato previously questioned the adequacy of the small sums that individual consumers might receive in the deal, and asked for more information about the restrictions on Google's conduct included in the settlement.
Google and the California attorney general’s office, which helped lead the states' coalition, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Google as part of the settlement agreed to make it easier for developers to tell users about other ways to pay for purchases within apps and for consumers to download apps directly from the web.
The deal included $630 million for consumers and $70 million for the states. The states in their new filing said they anticipate $515 million being available for eligible consumers, after accounting for legal fees and other costs. The states said the average award will be about $4.41.
The states said they and consumers could sue again after a seven-year window if Google does not abide with the settlement — a provision they called a "a hard-fought win."
Donato is also weighing a related case against Google that was filed by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.
Epic defeated Google at trial last year, and now has asked the court to impose an injunction that the game maker has called greater in scope than the states’ deal. A hearing in Epic’s case is scheduled for next month.
The case is In re Google Play Consumer Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 3:20-cv-05761-JD.
For states: Paula Blizzard of California Attorney General’s Office; and other states attorneys general
For Google: Brian Rocca of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Glenn Pomerantz of Munger, Tolles & Olson
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