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By Jonathan Stempel
April 14 (Reuters) - A new antitrust lawsuit on Tuesday accuses Google of shutting out rival Android app stores by monopolizing app distribution and billing, violating U.S. antitrust law.
Aptoide, a Portuguese company that specializes in mobile games and calls itself the world’s third-largest Android app store, said it would have exerted substantially more pressure on Google’s pricing and policies but for Google’s "anticompetitive chokehold" that shuts out smaller rivals.
Google, a unit of Alphabet, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Based in Lisbon, Aptoide brands itself "the alternative Android app store," with about 436,000 apps in its catalog and more than 200 million annual users by 2024.
It said it offers lower commissions to developers and lower costs to users, yet suffers from irreparable harm because Google deprives rivals of exclusive content from top developers, and steers developers to Google Play and other "must have" services.
The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court seeks an injunction against alleged anticompetitive practices, plus unspecified triple damages. Aptoide filed a separate complaint against Google with European Union antitrust authorities in 2014.
Last November, Google agreed to make Android and app store changes to settle a five-year-old antitrust case by Epic Games, maker of the popular Fortnite video game.
A jury found in 2023 that Google unlawfully stifled competition, and the trial judge ordered sweeping reforms the following year.
Google has also defended against a U.S. government case in which a judge in August 2024 found its internet search engine an illegal monopoly.
The judge later ordered the Mountain View, California-based company to share search data with rivals, but did not require a sale of its Android operating system or Chrome browser. Google and the government appealed.