The daily business briefing: December 19, 2023

Google agrees to pay $700 million to settle Play store antitrust complaints, Nippon Steel agrees to buy US Steel, and more

Google Play
Google Play settles
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1. Google to pay $700 million to settle Play store antitrust cases

Google has agreed to pay $700 million and to make changes to increase competition in its Play app store to settle antitrust complaints, according to a Monday federal court filing. The internet giant will pay $630 million into a settlement fund for consumers. The remaining $70 million will go into a fund for states, according to the settlement. A judge must sign off on the agreement. The Justice Department and dozens of states launched separate cases in 2020 accusing Google of abusing its online search dominance to squelch competition by securing deals with wireless carriers and smartphone makers to make Google their default or exclusive search engine. CNN, Reuters

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.