Google will allow nongaming app developers to offer European users a rival payment option on its Android operating system, the company announced via its blog post.
Although a change previously resisted by the company, this move by Google comes after the European Commission, the government body of the European Union, passed the flagship Digital Markets Act (DMA)—a piece of legislation aimed at regulating the market power of big tech companies. However, sources note this as a small concession within the many battles between regulators and big tech.
“Google’s move to enable rival payment systems in EU aligns with their recent approach to antitrust regulatory pressure,” said UM Worldwide chief privacy officer Arielle Garcia, “namely to offer preemptive concessions to stave off further scrutiny or enforcement which might net a less favorable more prescriptive result.”
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