Fortnite maker accuses Google of bullying and bribing to block competition to its Android app store

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google on Monday confronted the second major U.S. antitrust trial in two months to cast the internet powerhouse as a brazen bully that uses its immense wealth and people’s dependence on one of its main products to stifle competition at consumers’ expense. The trial that opened in San Francisco federal court targets the payment system for the Google Play Store that distributes apps for the company’s Android software that powers virtually all the world’s smartphones that aren’t made by Apple. The Play Store case is being brought by video game maker Epic Games, which already lost in a previous trial taking aim at Apple’s app store for iPhones.