Google is used to facing lawsuits from different tech giants and rivals left and right. The last one that we know was recently withdrawn by the plaintiffs. Back in May 2014, two smartphone customers in the United States filed a case against the search company in a court in California. Almost a year later, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman dismissed the class action lawsuit in San Jose, California.
This lawsuit was about Google requiring Android phone manufacturers like Samsung Electronics to favor native Google apps like YouTube. According to the plaintiffs, this restricts competition like those from Microsoft. This favoring of Google apps is making martphone prices higher because the other competitors cannot compete. The plaintiffs Gary Feitelson and Daniel McKee said Google’s very own apps are enjoying “prime screen real estate”.
The Mountain View company responded by saying that Android phones could still be used without Google and its native apps. Google presented a formal argument in court to counter the lawsuit. In an email to Reuters, Google spokesman Aaron Stein shared, “Since Android’s introduction, greater competition in smartphones has given consumers more choices at lower prices”.
Judge Freeman dismissed the case against Google and told the plaintiffs to amend their claims. She said that the consumers did not prove how the higher prices of smartphones resulted from Google forcing their apps on different Android handsets. No word from the camp of the plaintiffs when asked for comments.
SOURCE: Reuters
