APBengaluru: Internet giant Google has halved the commission developers have to pay on in-app purchases of digital goods from its Play Store to 15% on the first $1 million they earn as revenue each year.
Google had said last year that developers would have to pay a flat 30% commission but deferred its implementation to April 2022 following protests by Indian startups.
The latest move follows a similar announcement by rival Apple for its App Store in November last year.
The reduced commission will now be effective from July this year, the US technology behemoth said in a blog post on Tuesday.
Developers in India will, however, have time till end of March 2022 to integrate Google Play Store Billing into their Android apps.
More than 50 Indian startup entrepreneurs, led by Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, had criticised the internet giant's decision to enforce the 30% commission, calling it an abuse of its app store’s dominant position in India.
They had also approached the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and the Competition Commission of India to share their concerns about Google’s control over the Indian app ecosystem.
“With this change, 99% of developers globally that sell digital goods and services with Play will see a 50% reduction in fees. These are funds that can help developers scale up at a critical phase of their growth by hiring more engineers, adding to their marketing staff, increasing server capacity, and more,” said Sameer Samat, Vice President, Android and Google Play.
While these investments are critical when developers are in the early stages of growth, scaling an app does not stop once the developer has reached $1 million in revenue, Samat said, adding that developers earning $2 million, $5 million or even $10 million a year would still be on the path to self-sustainability.
“We believe this is a fair approach that aligns with Google’s broader mission to help all developers succeed. Once developers confirm some basic information to help us understand any associated accounts they have and ensure we apply the 15% properly, this discount will automatically renew each year,” he said.
Samat said Google looks forward to helping more businesses scale new heights on Android and have further discussions with the Indian developer community to find new ways to support them technically and economically.
Google had said last year that developers would have to pay a flat 30% commission but deferred its implementation to April 2022 following protests by Indian startups.
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The latest move follows a similar announcement by rival Apple for its App Store in November last year.
The reduced commission will now be effective from July this year, the US technology behemoth said in a blog post on Tuesday.
Developers in India will, however, have time till end of March 2022 to integrate Google Play Store Billing into their Android apps.
More than 50 Indian startup entrepreneurs, led by Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, had criticised the internet giant's decision to enforce the 30% commission, calling it an abuse of its app store’s dominant position in India.
They had also approached the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and the Competition Commission of India to share their concerns about Google’s control over the Indian app ecosystem.
“With this change, 99% of developers globally that sell digital goods and services with Play will see a 50% reduction in fees. These are funds that can help developers scale up at a critical phase of their growth by hiring more engineers, adding to their marketing staff, increasing server capacity, and more,” said Sameer Samat, Vice President, Android and Google Play.
While these investments are critical when developers are in the early stages of growth, scaling an app does not stop once the developer has reached $1 million in revenue, Samat said, adding that developers earning $2 million, $5 million or even $10 million a year would still be on the path to self-sustainability.
“We believe this is a fair approach that aligns with Google’s broader mission to help all developers succeed. Once developers confirm some basic information to help us understand any associated accounts they have and ensure we apply the 15% properly, this discount will automatically renew each year,” he said.
Samat said Google looks forward to helping more businesses scale new heights on Android and have further discussions with the Indian developer community to find new ways to support them technically and economically.