The legal battle between Apple and Epic Games is usually what people think of these days when mentioning an app store fee. Of course, the Google Play Store has the same. And it looks like the internet search giant may start enforcing it by cracking down on apps that circumvent it.
Sources to Bloomberg say that Google’s parent company Alphabet is looking to update its store guidelines to reflect this. When the changes are implemented apps that do not currently comply will not be immediately removed. Instead, they will be given time to make necessary changes. But no indication on what sort of time frame they are given.
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The report also states that a lot of companies will be affected. Among them include Spotify, Netflix, and Match Group, which owns Tinder. These apps ask users to pay for their subscriptions using a credit card, allowing them to circumvent the 30% cut. Notably, none of them were booted from the Google Play Store the way Fortnite was when Epic Games added a direct payment option for its microtransactions.
Interestingly, the report came to light around the same time the aforementioned companies teamed up to form the Coalition for App Fairness. Considering this development, it’s likely the coalition’s fight will extend to Google as well.
(Source: Bloomberg)
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