Google Follows Apple's Steps To Lower App Rates By 15 Percent

JAKARTA - Google has officially lowered the service fee of subscription-based applications on the Play Store. Previously, the developers set a tariff of 30 percent to just 15 percent.

This new regulation will come into effect on January 1, 2022 for all applications. The move is a change from the current structure, which requires subscription-based apps to retain their subscribers for one year to enjoy lower rates.

Google says 99 percent of developers will qualify for the lower service fee. Meanwhile, they are also introducing a program to allow e-books, music streaming services and other apps that pay for content to access fees as low as 10 percent.

"We've been working with our partners in dating, fitness, education and other sectors to understand the nuances of their business," Google said in its official blog post, Saturday, October 23.

However, Google is not the only app store owner to implement this new rule, where Apple first applied this to its App Store.

Citing CNBC International, Apple has received more regulatory attention in the United States (US) for its application store than Google, over the past two years the company cut application commissions by 30 percent, and now to 15 percent.

Apple's new rules apply to all uncategorized apps like Google, including apps that earn less than $1 million per year such as news apps, and certain premiums.

But Apple still charges 30 percent for the first year of subscription-based apps, meaning that Google's app store may be more competitive for subscription-based apps.

It is known, Google and Apple are both facing legal action over their app store practices. In July, the state attorney general announced an antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the company of abusing its power over app developers via the Play Store on Android. And the creators of Fortnite, Epic Games, filed a major lawsuit against Apple and Google centered around app store fees and other practices.

Later, lawmakers have proposed a series of laws that could force Apple and Google to make changes to their app store policies. In addition, the two were also asked to let developers use other payment systems.