If you have an app on the Google Play Store, and that app provides for in-app purchases, watch out, because the Big G is coming after you.
Currently, under Google’s rules, if you provide in-app purchases, you must use the Google Play Store’s billing services, which basically means that Google keeps around 30% of your revenue.
This is nothing new. It has always been the case. However, a number of developers have decided to ignore this rule and Google is not pleased. So, it plans to reinforce it. Apple is taking similar measures, so the news for developers is not good.
In response, a coalition of app publishers, such as Spotify, Epic Games and Basecamp, “have announced the creation of the “Coalition for App Fairness,” which hopes to more fair arrangements between app stores and publishers,” Johan Moreno reports. The new organization formalises efforts the companies already have underway that focus on either forcing app store providers to change their policies, or ultimately forcing the app stores into regulation. You can find out more on the coalition’s website, where the group details its key issues, including anti-competitive practices, such as the app stores’ 30% commission structure, and the inability to distribute software to billions of Apple devices through any other means but the App Store. The group sees this as an affront to personal freedom.
They just happen to be some of the developers that have been thwarting Google’s fee rule, according to Bloomberg. They have managed to do this, “by mandating that users sign up for services (and pay) through the app’s website, which avoids the need for in-app purchases.”
The problem for Google is Android’s open nature. It allows users to download third-party apps, whereas Apple has a closed app ecosystem. As Moreno says, “on some Android devices, there may be a third-party app store, operating completely without the guidance of Google.”
App developers may continue to circumvent Google by creating and popularising, “a third-party app marketplace that can be loaded onto Android that may provide more fair terms for developers.”