WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) released a pair of new polls – a national battleground survey and a California statewide – that found likely voters in both parties back legislation to address the anticompetitive practices of app store gatekeepers.
The battleground survey included Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. This survey found that 69% of voters think Big Tech has too much power and 79% support efforts by Congress to pass the Open App Markets Act and open up the mobile app ecosystem to competition. In the California statewide survey, polling showed that 69% of likely California voters believe Big Tech has too much power and 75% support the Open App Markets Act.
The polls were conducted by Republican and Democratic firms.
“The numbers don’t lie – voters across the country overwhelmingly want their members of Congress to stop Big Tech’s anticompetitive practices,” said Rick VanMeter, Executive Director for the Coalition for App Fairness. “Voters have made clear that they want flexibility and choice in how they access apps on their mobile devices. These findings demonstrate that reining in mobile app store gatekeepers by passing the Open App Markets Act is a winning issue for Republicans and Democrats alike. Congress has a simple choice: side with Big Tech or support the American people.”
The Open App Markets Act, would fix the broken mobile app marketplace by requiring mobile gatekeepers to allow third party app stores and third party in-app payment systems. Additionally, the legislation prohibits anti-competitive practices, such as “self-preferencing,” by banning app stores from engaging in behaviors that put their products at an advantage over independent developers and competitors.
Key findings of the battleground survey include:
- 79% of likely voters support the Open App Markets Act
- 69% of likely voters say Big Tech has too much power
- 59% of likely voters say Apple has too much power
- 67% of likely voters say Google has too much power
- 72% agree “Big Tech companies, like Apple and Google, limit competition and restrict innovation from independent app developers”
- 72% of likely voters support the American Innovation and Choice Online Act
- 61% of likely voters say they would feel more favorable toward their members of Congress or Senator for supporting this bill
Key findings of the California survey include:
- 75% of California voters support the Open App Markets Act with 50% saying they strongly support the bill
- 62% of California voters disapprove of the job that Congress has done with regards to regulating Big Tech companies
Methodology:
- On behalf of the Coalition for App Fairness, OnMessage Public Strategies fielded calls in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin between June 4-10, N=1600 likely voters, with a margin of error of +/-2.5%.
- On behalf of the Coalition for App Fairness, Lake Research Partners designed and administered a California statewide phone survey, conducted from June 1 to June 12, 2022. The survey reached 800 California likely 2022 voters statewide.
View more key findings from the survey here.
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About the Coalition for App Fairness
The Coalition for App Fairness is an independent nonprofit organization formed to protect consumer choice, foster competition, and create a level playing field for all app and game developers globally. Originally formed by Basecamp, Blix, Blockchain.com, Deezer, Epic Games, the European Publishers Council, Match Group, News Media Europe, Prepear, Proton, Skydemon, Spotify, and Tile, CAF has rapidly grown from 13 to over 60 members since launching in September 2020. CAF offers membership to companies of any size — join today at appfairness.org.