Despite the competitors, Google and Apple agree to remain opposed to allowing developers to use third-party systems to receive billing for in-app purchases. The tariffs applied by companies and the inability to adopt alternative platforms have forced some companies to limit le the features in-app. But that will soon change thanks to recent Google policy changes on the Play Store. Let's go see what's going on.
Play Store will allow developers to use alternative payment systems, all of which will be accompanied by a reduction in commissions
Google announced a change in operating conditions of the Play Store in the European Economic Area (EEA). Now application developers that are not games will be able to officially offer users payment for software, subscriptions and services using third-party payment systems. At the same time, the Commission for carrying out all transactions it will not disappear, but will be reduced compared to the standard rate.
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We are committed to meeting these new requirements, making sure we can continue to keep people safe on our platforms and invest in Android and Play Store for the benefit of all.
The relevant statement has been published on the company's website (you can find the link in the introduction). According to the press release, up to 99% of developers are currently entitled to one 15% discounted service fee. When using alternative billing for EEA users reported via the Google Play platform, this amount will be reduced to 12%.
The company has made it clear that when moving to third-party payment schemes, developers will need to comply with user protection requirements. The Google Play's payment system will continue to be required for games distributed within the EEA and for all software outside of it. Finally, Google estimates that the Android ecosystem supports more than 1.1 million jobs in the EU alone and that the total revenue of mobile app developers for the platform in 2021 was around 7.9 billion euros.
