From now on, developers for corresponding apps no longer have to use the Google Play billing system, according to the statement from Google. However, developers who want to use an alternative payment system must use a billing system that meets “reasonable requirements for user protection”. The terms of service remain valid.
Also, Google does not waive the service fees. They will then only be 3 percent lower than before. For 99 percent of developers, the service fee is 15 percent of sales or less, writes Google. In the future, you would have to pay a maximum of 12 percent in transaction fees if you use an alternative billing system.
The Digital Markets Act in the neck
According to Google, the group is thus ahead of the requirements of the recently passed Digital Markets Act (DMA), which prohibits platform operators from exploiting a monopoly position to advantage their own products and services over other competitors. There are alternative app stores for the Android system. But they play a rather subordinate role compared to Google Play.
Google justifies the current initiative before the DMA comes into force with the fact that early cooperation with the developers can ensure compliance with the legal requirements in the interest of all.
It remains unclear how Google will proceed with the billing alternatives for game developers. Here, Google simply states: “We expect to expand the billing alternatives for game app developers for their users in the EEA before the DMA comes into force.” The EEA includes the EU countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Trouble with antitrust authorities
Google and Apple have been under observation for years, not only by EU antitrust authorities. The corporations would also abuse their dominant market position with their app stores and take high commissions and would not allow any alternative payment systems or references to them. The DMA stipulates that it is no longer necessary to decide on a case-by-case basis whether there is a dominant position, which increases the pressure on Google and Apple.
Google had previously reached an agreement with the music streaming provider Spotify and the Match Group, the parent company of the dating apps Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, allowing the companies to integrate their own payment systems into their apps. In South Korea, pressure from the local government forced Google to allow alternative payment systems.
