In a unanimous decision, a federal court jury found Google's mobile program, Play Store, has been imposing anti-competitive barriers to not let others join, affecting phone users and creators.

This choice reached fast after four weeks of listening to stories focused primarily on how the Play Store gets money, where millions around the planet go online and get Android apps.

Epic Games Wins Lawsuit over Google's Anti-Competitive Barriers

The case, started by Epic Games, said Google was shielding its shop to keep its money flowing, close to a fight Apple had with its iPhone app store.

Both big tech groups take 15% to 30% of funds made inside apps. Despite Google letting app downloads from different places, not like Apple's locked iPhone rules, the jury thought it was unlike earlier cases.

Apple had won a similar lawsuit brought by Epic Games before, a ruling now under the highest court in the U.S.

The various results in the Play Store trial show another way of looking at bad habits within the Android system.

The trial against Google started with them trying to get out of having a jury decide things, a bid dismissed by U.S. District Judge James Donato. He will figure out what Google needs to do after the verdict says they broke the competition rules.

Some hearings for that are coming up in the second week of January.

The CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, seemed happy after the result, thanking the Google lawyers for being cool about everything.

He was going on about how they "Won against Google!" on the X app, which used to be called Twitter.

Epic made it clear on their site how important this win is for other app makers and players around the globe.

Meanwhile, according to Wilson White, who's the company's VP for dealing with the government and public policy, Google wants to appeal the decision.

How Did Google Lose the Lawsuit?

According to recent reports, the rejection of Google's request to not have a jury means Judge James Donato will be in charge of figuring out what needs to be done to fix the unfair things in the Play Store.

The hearings will start in the second week of January.

Even though Google wants to appeal, the expert Michael Pachter thinks it will be hard. They might talk more about how much developers have to pay.

In Apple's case, not letting companies steer people differently changed everything, and maybe, over time, the platforms will take less money. This could cost Google billions each year from the funds the Play Store gets.

But the primary way to make money, like from search and Gmail, won't be directly hurt.

After the decision, the value of Alphabet Inc. went down a little, just not even one percent, even though it had gone up fifty percent for the whole year. In the ongoing Apple case, people probably think it won't end differently in the appeal, which could also affect how the platforms work.

While Google losing lets other stores compete inside Android, leading to fewer fees, it might take a while. This trial will push for more choices and may affect how much developers earn and platforms charge in the future.