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Rulings targeting Google’s network-effect advantages could have limited impact

By Alex Wilts ( September 26, 2025, 20:24 GMT | Comment) -- Over the past year, Google has been forced to grapple with two court orders aimed at chipping away at the network effects it has enjoyed in different markets — though both decisions are expected to have only modest consequences. One case, in California, targeted the Google Play Store and required Google to allow third-party Android stores to surface its app catalog. The other, in Washington, DC, focused on Google Search and ordered the company to share certain user-side datasets with “qualified competitors.” Both rulings illustrate the challenges of addressing monopolistic behavior in markets dominated by network effects.Over the past year, Google has been forced to grapple with orders in two antitrust cases on opposite sides of the country — one over its search business, the other over its Google Play Store — and both turned in part on the network effects that cemented the company’s dominance....

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