Google should expect a shake-up of its Android app store, a judge made clear on Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENTA US judge indicated on Wednesday that he is planning to order Google to make big changes to its Play Store for Android phones.
US District Judge James Donato made clear during a hearing in San Francisco that the order would probably require Google’s store to offer consumers a choice to download alternative app stores.
The judge had been considering punishment for the company after Google lost an antitrust lawsuit in December to Epic Games, the creator of popular video game Fortnite.
« We are going to tear the barriers down, that is going to happen, » Donato told Google attorney Glenn Pomerantz.
« When you have a mountain built out of bad conduct, you are going to have to move that mountain, » the judge added.
Donato said he hopes to issue an order outlining the framework for the changes to the Play Store within the next few weeks.
Google recently lost a separate major antitrust case in the US last week, with a judge ruling the company is a monopoly that has been using its search dominance to stifle competition.
Question about timing for app store changes
Google wants 12 to 16 months to make the changes to avoid impacting the performance of Android smartphones while Epic Games said Google could do everything in about three months at a cost of about $1 million (€908,000).
Without revealing a timeline he has in mind, Donato indicated he would not give Google as much time as it wants to make the required changes.
« Google is telling me it will take aeons for all of this to happen, but I am sceptical about it, » the judge said.
« I am dubious that all that brainpower can’t solve these problems in less than 16 months ».
There is also a question of how long the order would ask with Epic Games wanting it to remain in effect for six years and Google wanting it to expire after one or two years.
Donato assured Google that he would not attempt to micromanage its business, even as he braced the company for a significant shake-up.
« The whole point is to grow a garden of competitive app stores, » the judge said.
