Google has followed in Apple’s footsteps after announcing it will slash the service fee it charges developers on the app store by half – but there’s a catch.
The discount will only apply to developers for the first $1 million in revenue earned every year.
It comes after rival Apple offered a similar discount following an outcry that its 30 per cent app store fees were “unfair” and “anti-competitive”.
Starting from July 1, 2021, Google is reducing its service fee in the Google Play store to 15 per cent.
With this change, Google says 99 per cent of Android developers will see a 50 per cent 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,” Google said in a blogpost.
“While these investments are most critical when developers are in the earlier stages of growth, scaling an app doesn’t stop once a partner has reached $1M in revenue — we’ve heard from our partners making $2M, $5M and even $10M a year that their services are still on a path to self-sustaining orbit.”
According to data from Sensor Tower, Google raked in $11.6 billion in app store fees charged to developers during 2020.
Apple also revealed in November it would lower its commission fees for developers who make $1 million or less in proceeds per year from the app store.
However Epic Games – the game developer which initially sued Apple over its app store fees – said Google’s move will do little to alleviate the financial burden on app developers.
“Whether it’s 15 percent or 30 percent, for apps obtained through the Google Play Store, developers are forced to use Google’s in-app payment services,” Epic told Reuters.
