A Timeline of Google's Play Store Policy
A Timeline of Google's Play Store Policy
Here are some key events related to Google's contentious policy.
September 2020: Google announced a new global policy that requires all app developers on the Google Play Store to accept payments only through Google’s billing system (GBS) from September 2021. This effectively means a charge of 30% commission on all payments made on any app selling a digital good, service or subscription.
September 2020: App companies in the US launched the Coalition for App Fairness to find solutions to the anti-competitive practices followed by the likes of Apple and Google.
October 2020: Google announced the extension of the deadline of enforcing the 30% commission policy in India to April 2022; the deadline for the rest of the world remains September 2021.
November 2020: India’s anti-trust body, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) launched an investigation into Google on allegations that the tech giant is abusing its dominant market position to charge high fees and to push its own payment system.
March 2021: Google announced a reduction in commission to 15% for the first $1 million of revenue app developers earn using Google’s Play Store billing system each year.
July 2021: 36 states in the US filed a case against Google alleging that the company abused its power over the sale and distribution of apps through the Google Play Store.
July 2021: A collective action or a class-action lawsuit is filed in the UK against Google’s monopolistic practices.
August 2021: South Korean parliament approved a bill banning all major app stores, including those of Google and Apple, from requiring developers to use only their payment systems.
October 2021: ADIF filed an interim relief petition before the CCI against Google’s Play Store policy, urging that the status quo be maintained until the investigation into the tech company has been completed.
October 2021: Google reduced its Play Store fee to 15% for subscription services.
Among the issues ADIF is working on, we are fighting Google and Apple on their app store monopolies.
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