Google bends the knee to South Korea, allows third-party in-app payments
Who knew telling Google “no” actually works
Story byIoanna Lykiardopoulou
Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainabili(show all)Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainability, green tech, AI, and EU policy. With a background in the humanities, she has a soft spot for social impact-enabling technologies.
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South Korea’s “anti-Google” law has… worked!
Perhaps you remember that in August South Korea passed anew bill, dubbed also as the “anti-Google” law, banning big app store operators like Google and Apple from forcing developers to exclusively use their payments systems.
The law went into effect in mid-September and if any app store operator fails to comply they’ll have to pay 3% of their South Korean revenue.
While we’d expect that Google would’t easily give in and go without a fight, the unexpected has happened.
On Thursday, Google announced through ablog postthat it would comply with the South Korean law andallowthird-partypayment options for in-app purchases.
And that’s the first time Google has ever amended its privacy policy for a specific country. I repeat: THE FIRST TIME EVER.
How does it work?
The announcement says:
And there’s more.Google, which charges developers a 15% service fee for distributing apps, said it would reduce this to 11% when users choose an alternative billing system. Because the companyrecognizesthat developers will incur costs to support their own billing system.
To curb your enthusiasm a little, Google added that alternative billing systems “may not offer the same protections or payment options and features of Google Play’s billing system — such asparental controls,family payment methods,subscription management, Google Play gift cards, andPlay Points.”
Because of course nothing compares to Google’s own products. And it might give South Koreans another choice, but it certainly wishes they won’t use it.
Is Apple next?
That’s still unclear and for now Apple hasn’t made any changes in response to the legislation.
According to theWall Street Journal, Apple has told the authorities that it’s current policies are in line with the law. The WSJ notes that the company might be able to maneuver a bit.
The bill doesn’t directly regulate commissions, but rather states that apps may not be forced to choose a specific payment option on account of “unreasonable fees.” Apple could potentially argue that its fees aren’t unreasonable, although that’s up to the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) to decide.
But whatever happens with Apple, Google’s compliance is definitely an instance to remember. So mark this day, people! Telling Google “no” actually works. Who knew…
