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A US judge has allowed the search giant to keep its app store closed pending a result from the ninth US circuit court of appeals.
Following an order to open up its Play Store to allow for greater competition, Google has been granted a stay on the injunction, pending an appeal.
Earlier this month, US district judge James Donato ordered Google to make several changes to its app store for a period of three years beginning 1 November 2024.
These changes would mean that Google may not prohibit users from downloading third-party app stores or prohibit the use of in-app payment methods.
However, following an appeal from the search giant, Donato has granted a request to temporarily pause this order to allow the ninth US circuit court of appeals to consider Google’s separate request to pause the judge’s order.
The original order stemmed from a landmark verdict in a legal battle between Google and Epic Games, which came three years after Epic sued the search giant for blocking rivals and stifling competition.
In December 2023, the courts ruled in favour of Epic against Google and found that the search giant had monopoly power when it comes to its Play Store and that it has engaged in anticompetitive practices.
Following Donato’s ruling earlier this month, Google’s VP for regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, said the changes ordered would “put consumers’ privacy and security at risk, make it harder for developers to promote their apps and reduce competition on devices”.
“Ultimately, while these changes presumably satisfy Epic, they will cause a range of unintended consequences that will harm American consumers, developers and device makers.”
In its motion for a stay, Google said “there is a significant risk” that the changes requested will not work properly or cannot be accomplished at scale by the 1 November deadline.
While Donato did grant a partial stay of the permanent injunction pending the circuit court’s resolution of the stay requests Google filed there, he did not grant a stay on one specific part of his ruling relating to agreements with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
“For a period of three years ending on November 1, 2027, Google may not condition a payment, revenue share, or access to any Google product or service, on an agreement with an OEM or carrier not to preinstall an Android app distribution platform or store other than the Google Play Store,” the original order said.
In Donato’s ruling on Friday (18 October), he said this part of the injunction is not stayed.
In a statement, Google said it is pleased with the decision to pause “the implementation of dangerous remedies” as it waits for a result on a further pause.
“These remedies threaten Google Play’s ability to provide a safe and secure experience and we look forward to continuing to make our case to protect 100m US Android users, over 500,000 US developers and thousands of partners who have benefited from our platforms.”
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