Google Ordered to Fix Anticompetitive Play Store Search Engine Flaws

A federal judge has ordered Google to fix several issues with its Play Store search engine and install flow design, which have been deemed anticompetitive by the court. The order comes from the ongoing Epic Games v. Google antitrust case, in which Epic's legal team demonstrated that searching for rival app stores returned unrelated physical retailers rather than any competing marketplaces.

US District Judge James Donato issued the compliance order on August 13, giving Google a week to fix the issues by August 20. The judge found specific Play Store behaviors anticompetitive, including a search query that returns a physical retailer instead of a rival app marketplace, an extra tap required for installing third-party apps, and a click-through banner that buries rival stores' listings.

The order is significant because it treats interface design choices as subject to antitrust compliance enforcement, not just structural business arrangements. Judge Donato characterized the design choices as 'anticompetitive friction,' echoing a growing body of legal and academic analysis arguing that interface manipulation can constitute an antitrust violation.