fidotron 14 hours ago

I wonder if Google plan on keeping any of the resulting changes purely US, or if they are being compelled to do so globally.

> Stop sharing money or perks with phonemakers, carriers, and app developers in exchange for Google Play exclusivity or preinstallation

Going back many years, my understanding was that a certain amount of Play Store revenue finds its way to carriers (and this was definitely a thing in Asia too), and that this was used to explain why there was a disparity in fees between the Play Store and the Chrome Store.

  • ocdtrekkie 14 hours ago

    It's over. Apple lost, Google lost. They lost in the EU, and they've lost in the US. Just today, Japan jumped on as well: https://9to5mac.com/2025/08/01/japan-mandates-apple-must-all... (This affects both companies actually.) No country who cares about their own citizens is going to let Apple and Google take advantage of them now that the US and the EU is putting a stop to it, so it won't be long until both companies unify their global policy to stop restricting this stuff.

    What you're still going to see, is any way they can delay enforcement in the large markets, because the money they're raking in the government will not claw back in penalties. So things like the stays of enforcement are not because they have any chance of winning, but because it's profitable to draw out the case. They have no chance of winning this in front of this Supreme Court or any other one, for that matter.

    The comedy here is the changes they're saying would be too hard for them to do in 14 days were ones that Apple has already had to accept... and they had less than 14 days to do them. So if the judges are vaguely aware of the parallel Apple case, they have already seen how this plays out and deny this stay request too. But we'll see.

    • owebmaster 4 hours ago

      > It's over. Apple lost, Google lost

      Tell it to Trump and the US government. They made it clear the US is going to wage war against any country that tries to regulate big tech

      • ocdtrekkie 3 hours ago

        They have said this mostly regarding digital services taxes, but considering the Trump administration largely thinks the Biden administration's antitrust position against these companies was the one thing they agree on... I doubt Trump will save them.

        A million bucks just doesn't buy off a President like it used to.

        • dragonwriter 3 hours ago

          Nah, we’ve seen that big firms that have control of substantially influential media platforms will be able to get Trump to save them—all they’ll need to do is meet some “mild” ideological demands on content that leave them plenty of room to make more money for their investors than if they didn't play ball. (And if they don’t, the Trump Administration can find more bureaucratic jeopardy and cost to impose until they do.)

dude250711 13 hours ago

Should they not be slapped with a big fine for not starting to prepare in advance?

Also be denied on a basis of carefully maintaining an image of allegedly hiring the best developers in the world? Who can easily do it in 14 days?

Just charge them a huge daily fine and it will be done fast.

thechao 13 hours ago

I have a question: do Epic's games have in-game stores. Do they have to open those stores to 3rd parties, now? I mean ... fair-is-fair, right?

  • killingtime74 13 hours ago

    Well since it's not preloaded into a phone it's not the same. It's part of an app you voluntarily install. Can one force one's local supermarket to carry one's product.