Yesterday, Google outlined the changes it will make to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) that comes into effect today. However, it leaves out an important detail, which is whether developers who instruct users outside the Play Store to sideload apps will be charged — and if so, how much.
Now, Google has revealed that it does charge developers even if they don’t use the Play Store, just like Apple does with the App Store. According to new details found in the Play Console Help section, the company will be charging two new fees:
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There is an initial acquisition fee of 10% for in-app purchases and 5% for a two-year subscription. This represents the value Play provides in facilitating initial user acquisition.
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Ongoing service fees are 17% for in-app purchases and 7% for subscriptions. This covers ongoing Play services such as parental controls, security, fraud prevention and app updates.
Developers can opt out of ongoing fees after two years if users agree, but ongoing Play Services will no longer apply. Google said: “Because users purchase the app through Play and expect services such as parental controls, safety scanning, fraud prevention and continuous app updates, discontinuing services also requires user consent.”
Google provides the following chart to show how the fees would apply to a hypothetical “Fantastiq App”:
To this end, Google has taken a similar approach to Apple, reducing App Store commissions but introducing new fees. Namely, Apple is charging a new “payment processing” fee of 3% for transactions made through its store. The new “Core Technology Fee” will charge a flat fee of €0.50 for all app downloads, whether they come from the App Store or a third-party website, after the first 1 million installs.
Google justifies the fees by touting the value it provides within the Android ecosystem: “Fees for Play support our investment in Android and Google Play and reflect the value Android and Play provide, including enabling us to distribute it for free Android and deliver continued growth.” A suite of tools and services that help developers build successful businesses while keeping our platform safe and secure for billions of users around the world. “
Yesterday, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney slammed Google’s post about DMA compliance before the new fees were announced. “Google has announced a malicious compliance plan against Europe’s DMA laws…it looks like their illegal anti-steering policy will be replaced by a new Google tax on online transactions. We may soon find out what he and other developers have to say about this What’s the reaction? New fees.
from Tech Empire Solutions https://techempiresolutions.com/google-follows-apples-lead-and-adds-new-developer-fees-in-eu/
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