Alphabet Inc must lift restrictions that prevent developers from setting up rival marketplaces that compete with its Google Play Store, a judge ruled, upending the search giant’s dominance in the lucrative Android app market.

A federal judge has ordered Google to open its Android app store to competition, finding the tech giant had maintained an illegal monopoly that expanded its internet empire.

A federal judge has ordered Google to tear down the digital walls shielding its Android app store from competition

Alphabet Inc. must lift restrictions that prevent developers from setting up rival marketplaces that compete with its Google Play Store, a judge ruled, upending the search giant’s dominance in the lucrative Android app market.

The injunction by U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco outlined the changes Google must undertake to open up its lucrative app store, Play, to greater competition, including making Android apps available from rival sources.

Judge James Donato, who presided over the Epic vs. Google lawsuit that declared Google to be operating an illegal monopoly with its Google Play Store on Android last year, issued a final ruling on Monday requiring the company's mobile operating system to open up to third-party app stores for three years.

Small developers may be winners after a judge's ruling in the long legal battle between Epic Games and Google. The tech giant must allow consumers more choices on its app store.

A US judge has ruled that Google must open up Andriod for third-party app stores. The ruling, made on Monday, was one of several remedies in the landmark antitrust case brought against Google by Epic Games,

It is among several remedies ordered in a case brought against the firm by Fortnite-maker Epic Games.