US Judge Tells Google to Improve Rival App Store Search on Play Store

A US judge has reprimanded Google for making it difficult for users to find rival app stores on the Play Store. The criticism comes after a recent court visit between Epic Games and Google, where Judge Donato was shown a demo of how users can search for alternative app stores.

The demo showed that typing 'store for apps' in the Play Store's search box yields no results, instead returning unrelated results like Walmart. This led to Judge Donato questioning why such irrelevant results appear and stating that it is not good.

Judge Donato ordered Google to improve its search functionality to better understand what users are looking for, regardless of how they phrase their query. The judge also directed Google to remove the 'are you looking for?' banner that appears when searching for rival app stores, as it may deter new and established companies from listing their stores on the Play Store.

Aptoide, a third-party app store, recently returned to the Play Store through Google's Play Catalogue Access Program. This program allows qualifying third-party stores to publish their stores on the Play Store.