Amidst complaints from developers and the local authorities, the South Korean unit of Google Inc. has reportedly decided to lower its planned commission rate for smaller app developers. Google Korea reported to parliament’s committee on science and technology that it will cut the 30 percent rate on in-app purchases to 15 percent for app developers whose annual sales generated from its Play store are less than US$1 million, according to the sources. The new policy will take effect in July.
Update: The reduction in app revenue commission to 15% is now global starting in July 2021 Daily Crunch: Google Play halves commission on developers’ first $1M | TechCrunch
Google earlier announced a plan to introduce the 30 percent commission to all in-app digital goods purchases in South Korea while making it mandatory to use its own payment system for app purchases on its platform, starting January 2021. The new billing policy caused fierce opposition from tech firms and politicians and the company later delayed its implementation to September. Last year lawmakers proposed bills that would ban app market operators from imposing certain payment methods in mobile content transactions.
