Press Release

Attorney General Treg Taylor Joins Coalition of Attorneys General in Filing Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google

July 9, 2021

(Anchorage, AK) – On July 7th, Attorney General Treg Taylor joined a coalition of 37 attorneys general to file a lawsuit against Google in California. Utah v. Google alleges exclusionary conduct relating to the Google Play Store for Android mobile devices and Google Billing. The States accuse Google of using its dominance to unfairly restrict competition with the Google Play Store, harming consumers by limiting choice and driving up app prices.

“Google cannot be allowed to act unchecked by law,” said Deputy Attorney General Cori Mills. “When big tech companies become too large for individual consumers to effectively fight their unlawful behavior, it’s up to attorneys general to step in and protect our small businesses and residents.”

According to the lawsuit, the heart of the case centers on Google’s exclusionary conduct, which substantially shuts out competing app distribution channels. Google also requires that app developers that offer their apps through the Google Play Store use Google Billing as a middleman. This arrangement forces app consumers to pay a much higher commission than if they had the ability to choose one of Google‘s competitors instead. The lawsuit alleges that Google works to discourage or prevent competition, violating federal and state antitrust laws. Google had earlier promised app developers and device manufacturers that it would keep Android “open source,” allowing developers to create compatible apps and distribute them without unnecessary restrictions. The lawsuit says Google did not keep that promise. The lawsuit alleges that Google’s conduct constitutes unlawful monopoly maintenance, among other claims.

Attorney General Taylor joined the attorneys general from the following states in the lawsuit: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and

West Virginia. This effort is led by the Attorneys General from Utah, New York, North Carolina and Tennessee.

CONTACT: Assistant Attorney General Jeff Pickett at (907) 269-5275 or jeff.pickett@alaska.gov.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.