In a landmark choice, Google has fixed a long-lasting fight by agreeing to pay $700 million. This ending comes in response to complaints from an official general attorney from states, saying that Google's actions in its Android app store broke the rules against one company having too much control.

The deal was first made in September, marking a crucial step in the talks.

However, the contract was officially put in a federal court in San Francisco late Monday night. The agreement covers all 50 states and sets aside a massive $630 million payout, especially for U.S. customers. This part is meant for users who got in-app purchases through Google's Play Store and were impacted by a payment system that supposedly made the prices higher, as the state attorneys general pointed out.

Google Can't Have It Their Ways Forever.

The state lawyers pointed out how Google's prices for getting things in apps led to more cost. The deal the forms made with Google said Google had gone too far with being the only way to get apps and handle payments in apps.

Most phones everywhere use the Android system, getting stuff from the Google Play Store when buying apps.

People who can get part of the deal will automatically get some money, starting at $2, with more cash based on what they spent in Google Play between August 2016 and September 2023.

The documents from the court said Google had to pay $70 million to the states for fines and other expenses related to finishing the deal if a judge says it's okay to make the sale final.

According to another source, during the big court battle between Epic and Google, Google said that users could put other apps on their devices in different ways.

The big tech company claimed many deals with developers, phone makers, and phone companies. They didn't say Google Play had to be on the front page of a phone or the main screen.

But some things that came out in court, especially about Google's plan to give people choices on where they pay, got the people wondering.

They found out the program only knocks 4 percent off what Google charges to be in it, so the idea of "choice" was just for show. This 4 percent discount won't change after what they agreed to.

Dan Jackson from Google confirmed the value won't change after they settled. Things Google looked at on their own showed developers would lose money with the 4% rate, and companies like Spotify got a free pass while others seemingly had to pay.

Payouts Automatically Credit for Affected Consumers

The attorney general said those who can get some of the compensation money won't need to ask for it; they'll get payments through PayPal or Venmo automatically or choose a check or bank transfer instead.

More details on how that'll work will come later.

Besides giving money to customers affected, Google has to change some things. They have to let other app stores be on Android for four years, allowing the people who make games to offer different ways to pay apart from the Google Play store payments. This change means a significant shift and loosens the rules for the people and companies who make games and Android users, making it a more open place for mobile gaming.