Google antitrust trial focused on Android app store payments to be handed off to jury to decide

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal court jury is poised begin its deliberations in an antitrust trial focused on whether Google’s efforts to profit from its app store for Android smartphones have been illegally gouging consumers and stifling innovation. Before the nine-person jury in San Francisco starts weighing the evidence Monday, the lawyers on the opposing sides of the trial will present their closing arguments in a three-year-old case filed by Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game. Epic alleged that Google took various measures to protect a lucrative payment system in its Android app store. It’s an accusation Google fiercely fought in court.