The internet giant has been accused of being a middleman between app developers and consumers

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36 US states and Washington, DC have filed an antitrust lawsuit against internet giant Google. (Credit: Outreach Pete/Wikimedia Commons)

Google has been hit with a new antitrust lawsuit in the US, which has been filed by 36 states and Washington, DC in California federal court.

The lawsuit alleges that the internet company had misused its market power to stifle its competitors, while forcing consumers into in-app payments that provide it with a sizeable commission.

As per the 37 attorneys, who had filed the antitrust lawsuit, Google had not kept its word of maintaining Android as an open ecosystem that would allow industry participants to freely compete. The internet giant had acquired Android in 2005.

The states have alleged that Google has taken measures to close the ecosystem from the competition and had been acting as a middleman between app developers and consumers.

Google makes up to 30% of the money that consumers pay for buying an app from Google Play Store or to purchase any in-app digital content or subscriptions.

The states alleged that the company for collecting and maintaining the commission has been indulging in anticompetitive tactics to remove and disincentivise competition in Android app distribution.

The lawsuit further alleged that: “For all apps that consumers obtain from the Google Play Store, Google requires that consumers purchase any inapp digital content through Google Play Billing.

“By imposing this unduly restrictive and anticompetitive tie, Google can indefinitely collect supracompetitive commissions from consumers who purchase in-app digital content.”

The new legal hurdle for Google follows three federal antitrust lawsuits in the US against the company, of which one of them is an ongoing case filed by the Justice Department for alleged monopoly practices in search advertising.

Last month, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a market study to probe into Google’s mobile ecosystem to determine if the company’s market power is affecting users and other businesses.