(Photo = Google Play capture)
Google, which caused controversy over fees, cuts the in-app payment fee, which is currently 30%, to 15%, which is half of the revenue for a portion of the app developer’s sales.
Google Korea announced on the 15th that it will apply a 15% fee to all Google Play developers regardless of the size of the app developer. This fee policy, which will take effect on July 1, is to apply a 15% fee for the first $1 million (approximately 1.1 billion won) sales to developers that sell all paid content such as games and digital contents. A 30% commission applies for sales in excess of $1 million.
This fee policy is applied based on the annual sales of the developer, and it is expected to be calculated and applied on an annual basis. For example, if the developer has annual sales of 2 billion won, a commission rate of 15% is applied to the sales of 1.1 billion won and 30% of the excess sales of 900 million won. Apps that are provided for free on Google Play and apps that trade real goods do not have a fee, as in the past.
Google plans to support small and medium-sized developers to develop the domestic app ecosystem. In order to support domestic small and medium-sized developers and start-ups in the content field, the’K-reate’ program announced in September will be operated in earnest this year. Through the create program, Google will support marketing for small and medium-sized developers in Korea to advance overseas, and will also hold discount events such as Google Play Point Promotion.
Earlier, Google announced that it will apply its in-app payment method and a 30% payment fee to all digital content apps, such as webtoons and music sources, as well as existing games from October, attracting strong backlash from the internet and content industries. The National Assembly’s Science and Technology Information Broadcasting and Communication Committee also called for withdrawal of the fee increase policy, saying that Google’s fee increase was a bad thing for large operators with global platforms.