“Google has taken great pains to appear more open than Apple, licensing the Android operating system to third parties like Samsung and allowing users to install apps via other methods than the Play store. Apple does neither. When it comes to exclusivity, Apple has become synonymous with “walled garden” in the public imagination. So why did a jury find that Google held a monopoly but Apple didn’t?”
It’s also worth noting that Apple was never proven to not be a monopoly, only that Epic couldn’t provide enough evidence to prove that they were. US courts never prove innocence, only guilt.
Google simply could have been worse that Apple at hiding what they were doing, making it easier to find evidence. Or perhaps Epic’s prior failure to provide evidence in the Apple case may have helped prepare them with what to look for this time for the Google one.
Edit: Not to mention that the Google case was decided by a jury, whereas the Apple case was decided through a ruling by a judge, which adds another layer of difference between them.