In the next few hours, Google will start offering user-choice billing in the UK, allowing Google Play developers to use other billing options instead of Google’s system. The Google Play billing will commence on March 29, initially only to non-game developers.
If developers opt for it, they cannot replace Google Play billing altogether. Instead, the third-party route will be offered as an option.
It is said that developers who wish to use an alternative billing option get a 4% discount from the fees they pay to Google (to account for the costs that third parties may also charge). Google typically gets a cut of up to 30% on in-app transactions and paid downloads.
A blog post affirms that Google claimed that more than 90% of developers on its platform are “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the existing Google Play billing for users. Nevertheless, it added, “We recognize that some developers may want more choices when processing payments. This launch enables developers to offer an additional billing system alongside Google Play’s billing system, and users can choose which option to use at checkout.”
Google’s move is a long-awaited response to a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation that started in 2022.
At that time, the competition watchdog published a report based on a year-long study of the mobile ecosystem and noted that both Google and Apple’s power in the market could be subject to regulatory scrutiny. The companies’ app stores, where they were the sole in-app billing providers for their respective platforms, focused on investigating Google and Apple’s anticompetitive duopoly status.
Similarly, in 2023, a proposal was made to offer developers Google Play billing to settle the antitrust probe. However, the CMA opened a consultation and invited developers to provide feedback on Google’s proposal.
In a new turn of events, the CMA closed the probe against Google and Apple last year, maintaining that it planned to use regulatory reforms. These could include the Digital Market Competition Bill to regulate these companies in the mobile market.
It should be noted that Google has been permitting billing from third parties elsewhere in response to regulatory pressure to open its app store to more competition.
Countries where Google Play billing is being offered include the U.S., India, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and the European Economic Area (EEA), which all follow the same commissions and charges as in the UK.
In other news, Google Expands Chirp 3 AI Voice Model with Vertex AI Integration. Read more here.
