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

SAN FRANCISCO — 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 a San Francisco federal court targets 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. Google attorney Glenn Pomerantz attempted to debunk the portrait of the company having a stranglehold on Android apps by outlining a wide gamut of competition from rival mobile and video game console stores, as well as Apple’s store for apps that run on its iPhone software. “If a competition were a race, it’s like Google gets to run on a nice smooth track and everyone else has to run on quicksand.” Pomerantz depicted Google’s tactics as way to make sure Android apps are safe to use and its commission system as a way to defray the costs for an operating system that powers billions of smartphones around the world. The trial before U.S. District Judge James Donato is scheduled to last until just before Christmas and include testimony from longtime Google executive Sundar Pichai, who is now CEO of the company’s parent, Alphabet Inc. Pichai recently took the witness stand in Washington D.C. during an antitrust trial that is expected to wrap up later this month, but the judge in that case isn’t likely to rule until next year.