What's Going On With Google Parent Alphabet's Stock Tuesday?

Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL stock is trading lower Tuesday after a federal jury ruled against Google's Android app store for exploiting antitrust barriers, leading to detrimental effects on both consumers and software developers.

Fortnite game parent Epic Games filed the lawsuit in 2020, claiming Google exploited its power to sustain a monopoly over the Play Store. 

Like Apple Inc AAPL with its iPhone app store, Google collects a 15-30% commission on digital transactions made within apps.

Epic Games initiated this lawsuit after Google removed "Fortnite" from the app store after Epic Games allowed customers to pay directly. Epic lost a similar case against Apple in 2022.

Previous reports indicated that Google paid Microsoft Corp MSFT, which owned Activision Blizzard, $360 million over three years not to launch competing app stores or prevent developers from making Android apps outside the Play Store.

Also, Google entered into a similar agreement, for approximately $30 million, with Tencent Holdings Ltd TCEHY, which owned Riot Games, the maker of the hit game League of Legends.

In November, Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, testified as a witness in the antitrust trial denying the allegations against the company.

Pichai admitted to erasing specific internal discussions, although inadvertently. 

Previous reports also indicated that music streaming platform Spotify Technology SPOT has a deal with Google that lets it avoid paying most commission fees.

Price Action: GOOG shares are lower by 1.05% at $133.28 premarket on the last check Tuesday.