Google enforces 30% commission for play store apps transactions
- 4 years ago
전화연결: 구글, '30% 수수료' 모든 앱•콘텐츠에 물린다
And the controversy continues over Google's latest move to charge a commission of 30 percent for online content sold through Google Play beginning next year.
For more on this issue, we turn to Lee Kyung-min from the Korea Times who is on the line for us.
Good morning Kyung-min, can you tell us more about that.
Google said last Tuesday that it had clarified the language of its payments policy to be more explicit that all developers selling digital goods and apps are required to use Google Play's billing system.
So under the revised policy, new content developers whose services are made available on Google's platform after a certain date will have to comply with the 30-percent in-app fee policy starting January 20 next year.
But existing service providers will be granted a grace period of one year, meaning the additional charges will be waived until after October next year.
So, how much of an impact do you think it will have on Korea's online content industry and consumers, for that matter?
Google maintains that only 2 percent of Korean content developers using its platform will be affected, stressing that the new policy will have a negligible impact on the remaining 98 percent, all of whose content is already sold via Google Play's billing system.
But according to the Korea Internet Corporations Association, a group representing about 200 online service providers including content creators and start-ups such as Naver and Kakao, Google is downplaying the possible repercussions because the policy implications will be far-reaching, especially for small and medium-sized companies.
So what are they claiming? What concerns do they have?
The group say the fee is far too high compared to the current 10 percent paid without using the in-app transactions.
It says this will increase costs for small, budding online service providers and threaten their survival.
Also feared is an overall price hike of online content and services, leading inevitably to consumer complaints.
This they say will essentially dampen the popularity and competitiveness of this growing industry that relies heavily on Google Play, which has a market share of 70 percent in Korea.
The association filed a complaint with Korea Communications Commission against Google and its Korean office for violating a law that bans businesses from using their market dominance to mandate policies that unfairly promote their profits over their competitors'.
So I guess we will have to see how this unfolds in the coming months. Thank you for your reporting Kyung-min. We appreciate it.
My pleasure. Thank you for having me.
And the controversy continues over Google's latest move to charge a commission of 30 percent for online content sold through Google Play beginning next year.
For more on this issue, we turn to Lee Kyung-min from the Korea Times who is on the line for us.
Good morning Kyung-min, can you tell us more about that.
Google said last Tuesday that it had clarified the language of its payments policy to be more explicit that all developers selling digital goods and apps are required to use Google Play's billing system.
So under the revised policy, new content developers whose services are made available on Google's platform after a certain date will have to comply with the 30-percent in-app fee policy starting January 20 next year.
But existing service providers will be granted a grace period of one year, meaning the additional charges will be waived until after October next year.
So, how much of an impact do you think it will have on Korea's online content industry and consumers, for that matter?
Google maintains that only 2 percent of Korean content developers using its platform will be affected, stressing that the new policy will have a negligible impact on the remaining 98 percent, all of whose content is already sold via Google Play's billing system.
But according to the Korea Internet Corporations Association, a group representing about 200 online service providers including content creators and start-ups such as Naver and Kakao, Google is downplaying the possible repercussions because the policy implications will be far-reaching, especially for small and medium-sized companies.
So what are they claiming? What concerns do they have?
The group say the fee is far too high compared to the current 10 percent paid without using the in-app transactions.
It says this will increase costs for small, budding online service providers and threaten their survival.
Also feared is an overall price hike of online content and services, leading inevitably to consumer complaints.
This they say will essentially dampen the popularity and competitiveness of this growing industry that relies heavily on Google Play, which has a market share of 70 percent in Korea.
The association filed a complaint with Korea Communications Commission against Google and its Korean office for violating a law that bans businesses from using their market dominance to mandate policies that unfairly promote their profits over their competitors'.
So I guess we will have to see how this unfolds in the coming months. Thank you for your reporting Kyung-min. We appreciate it.
My pleasure. Thank you for having me.