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Google announces crackdown on in-app billing, aimed at Netflix and Spotify:
With a lot of focus lately on how smartphone app developers are treated on Apple's and Google's app stores, Google has decided right now is a great time to announce more stringent app store billing rules. A new post from the official Android Developer Blog promises a crackdown on in-app billing that sounds like it's targeted at big streaming services like Netflix and Spotify.
Google's post really beats around the bush trying to sugar-coat this announcement, but it starts off by saying, "We've always required developers who distribute their apps on Play to use Google Play's billing system if they offer in-app purchases of digital goods, and pay a service fee from a percentage of the purchase." This rule has not been enforced, though, and a lot of big developers have just ignored Google's billing requirements. Today, Netflix and Spotify don't use Google's in-app billing and instead kick new accounts out to a Web browser, where the companies can use PayPal or direct credit card processing to dodge Google's 30-percent fees.
[...] That's basically the meat of the blog post: everybody needs to use Google billing by this time next year. A look at the "Payments Policy" shows examples like "subscription services" that offer things like "music" and "video." It also warns readers at the top that "changes are coming to this policy!" and that "any existing app that is currently using an alternative billing system will need to remove it to comply with this update."
Google draws a clear distinction between Android and iOS by pointing out that on Android, developers have a "choice of stores" and that most Android devices ship with multiple app stores.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Zinnia Zirconium on Monday October 05 2020, @02:14AM (8 children)
Google Play, Netflix, Spotify. All three of these things are on my Do Not Use list.
(Score: 2, Troll) by Grishnakh on Monday October 05 2020, @04:13AM (7 children)
Good for you. Why do you think anyone cares about your opinion? Did you really feel the need to chime in here and tell us this? I could say the same on numerous other articles here, for things that I don't use. But unlike you, I don't think I'm some kind of special snowflake that needs to scream for attention like a child.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Zinnia Zirconium on Monday October 05 2020, @04:51AM (3 children)
It's called subtext. I don't use these things and dear reader neither should you. Lemme make it explicit for you with examples.
Instead of Google Play you should use APKPure.
Instead of Netflix you should use PrimeWire.
Instead of Spotify you should use Jango.
You cared enough to reply and call me an attention seeking snowflake but look how your negative attention prompted me to add more information to the discussion.
Thank you helpful troll!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Mykl on Monday October 05 2020, @06:22AM
Oh, cool. I didn't know you could get Stranger Things on PrimeWire. Good to know that there is an open service with exactly the same products as Netflix.
Why should I not pay for a service (Netflix) that provides me with entertainment I want to see while also paying the creators? How is it substantively different to paying for a cinema ticket (or, to stretch the analogy, a ticket to a movie marathon)?
Beside all of that, I think that you're getting off-topic. This article is less about the products you choose to use, and more about where you buy them and how much that may cost. And if I had an Android device (and Google do implement the tax they are proposing above), I would definitely either load Netflix from an alternative store, change devices, or stop using Netflix on my phone.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Bethany.Saint on Monday October 05 2020, @01:55PM
I can't tell if you're joking or not.
None of these services are even close to what you're suggesting we stop using.
APKPure doesn't tell you if an app has in app purchases, ads, etc.
PrimeWire is straight up illegal.
Jango doesn't have any of the music I listen to. Doesn't even have categories for them.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Monday October 05 2020, @10:53PM
What's wrong with Netflix again?
I can see why something like Google Play is an issue.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2020, @05:52AM (1 child)
Hey!! They are all on my DO NOT USE list, too! You got a problem with that? What are you, some kind of special snowflack that has to comment on things that do not concern you? Go ahead! By all means! Use your Google walled garden of Death and Mandatory payment systems! Don't come crying to us, when are broke in a living in a van down by the river, because your kid bought 1.4 Million in in-app purchases!! Did you notice that everyone is rather testy on SN, of late?
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Tuesday October 06 2020, @03:03AM
Nooooooo, surely you jest! It's not like there's anything happening around the world that could be causing that.
No fuc|<s given.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 12 2020, @03:19AM
Not sure if your comment is sarcastic humor or troll. The sarcasm is possible because your post is significantly less interesting and hypocritical so maybe it's in jest. Otherwise surely trollish.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2020, @02:18AM (2 children)
Justice dept's anti-trust division needs to wreck Google.
That outfit turned from "don't be evil" to "we rule."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2020, @02:50AM (1 child)
They rule? I don't use them, nor do I pay them.
(Score: 2) by Zinnia Zirconium on Monday October 05 2020, @03:16AM
Yesh it's not like Google is a monopoly. Just popular.
The new AT&T got demoted to #3 mobile carrier. Not popular anymore.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MostCynical on Monday October 05 2020, @02:50AM
what happens with company developed apps - no in-app purchases, just 'won't work' as you don't have a company account.. for which the company pays a license fee every year
Or apps which link to a home device (subscription supported cloud storage-linked device - paid monthly/yearly/etc.)
How about microsoft office - pay for a license, get the app use for free..?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2020, @02:54AM
Epic Games is already suing Google over this.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Monday October 05 2020, @04:19AM (9 children)
Google's right: you do have a choice of stores. My Verizon devices always come with the Verizon Store on them, full of a bunch of crappy apps. There's nothing stopping Netflix et al from putting their app on these other stores, or even having people install them directly as apks. This fact alone makes this different from Apple, where you literally have no other choice but to install apps from the Apple Store.
My solution is simple: offer multiple ways to install the app, but with different fees for in-app purchases depending on where you installed the app. Just be sure to notify the customer: "if you buy movies from this app installed from the Google Play store, it's going to cost you 30% more because of Google's fees. If you don't like this, just go to this webpage and install the app from there: link"
If people are too stupid or lazy to be bothered to install an app from an alternate store, then they deserve to pay 30% more. As long as Google doesn't prevent the app makers from notifying customers about this, I think this should suffice.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by coolgopher on Monday October 05 2020, @05:30AM (2 children)
What makes you think Google wouldn't prevent them from taking that approach? Apple already does I believe.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday October 05 2020, @06:56PM (1 child)
I'm just saying I think this should be allowed. Apple doesn't have to prevent them from taking this approach, because there's simply no way to install apps on an iPhone other than going through Apple's store. This isn't true with Android devices; there are many other app stores out there (most of them affiliated with the major carriers--Verizon, Sprint, etc.), and you can also install apps without using the Play store. Another poster here does point out that Google's terms of service don't allow leading customers to an alternate "payment method", but I think it should be allowed for them to point customers to another version of the app that has lower in-app prices, though this would probably have to be tested in court.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday October 05 2020, @11:53PM
Google even requires the end user to be able to replace Android with another OS, should he happen to have on that might work. This is a requirement on the manufacturer to be allowed to preinstall Google's Android.
That was the case last time I heard.
I've even heard of people replacing the entire Android userspace with Inferno.
-- hendrik
(Score: 3, Informative) by deimtee on Monday October 05 2020, @05:56AM (3 children)
It's actually 43% more. Google takes 30% of the total.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday October 05 2020, @11:55PM (2 children)
This is why percentages should be scaled logarithmically. No one cares to do the resulting transcendental calculations.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 07 2020, @07:32AM (1 child)
Don't say:
It's worth 30% less than what you pay, as google charge you 43% over what it's worth.
say:
It's worth 7/10th of what you pay, as google charge you 10/7ths of what it's worth.
I'm sure we all agree, the former's two hundred percent less understandable than the latter.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Wednesday October 07 2020, @03:25PM
Yes. Simpler to use common fractions.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Bethany.Saint on Monday October 05 2020, @02:10PM (1 child)
This isn't allowed under Google's terms. You can't, "lead users from an app to a payment method other than Google Play's billing system". It's not clear if you can inform the users that better prices are available elsewhere.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday October 05 2020, @06:51PM
Well, technically speaking, they aren't leading them to "a payment method", but rather to a different way of installing the app (or you could say, a different version of the app). I know it's splitting hairs, but this is exactly what law and contracts are all about.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2020, @09:15AM
if we assume that one netflix user uses 15 $ worth of netflix per month and he uses the google play store netflix app to make this transaction and then google gets 5 $ ...
further we assume that there are wordwide 10'000 kodi users that use it to watch netflix then netflix should ONCE cough up 50'000 $ and give it (and api information) to the kodi netflix app developer(s) for a more pain_free netflix app on kodi ...
this way we would have netflix on something bigger then 5 inches that avoids windows tax, has a ethernet connection AND saves netflix 11 month worth of 10'000 kodi users not having to pay 5 dollars to google (11 x 10'000 x 5$).
it thus would totally make sense to have a official netflix app for kodi that can also redeem giftcards...
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Monday October 05 2020, @10:12AM
This is a good thing. It motivates many big players to push an alternative to google play store, something neutral that a number of manufacturers can get behind (so it gets preinstalled with the usual cr*pware => immediate market). Let's hope someone has the vision...
(Score: 2) by looorg on Monday October 05 2020, @10:34AM
Can't have billing if Don Google doesn't get its taste?
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Tuesday October 06 2020, @08:24AM (1 child)
It makes sense they're enforcing it now, having a policy that is de facto not enforced is not a good idea legally.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 07 2020, @07:39AM
The concept of letting people get away with getting stuff for less than you'd later like to charge them once they have less choice of alternatives is on the first page of the commercial playbook.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday October 06 2020, @09:34PM
I have not associated a credit card with my device. I refuse to do so. Simply, I do not want to make crazy in-app purchases just a tap away. If any app should ever offer something that I do want to buy, it's going to have to bve through some sort of out-of-band payment system.