Mandatory 30% Google Commission, What Will Change?

A 30% Commission Will Be Applied to Apps and Content Beyond Game Apps
Price Increases for Apps and Content Are Inevitable Due to Commission Fees

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Google has decided to mandate its internal payment system 'In-App Payment (IAP)', resulting in a 30% commission fee on all payment amounts for applications and content sold on Google Play. Consequently, price increases for domestic apps and content are also expected to be inevitable.

On the 29th, Google announced, "Apps that provide in-app payments for digital goods distributed through Google Play must use the Google Play payment system."

In-app payment is an internal payment system developed by Google, where Google charges a 30% transaction fee on the payment amount when Google Play vendors use it.

Initially applied only to game apps, in-app payment will now be expanded to other content apps such as music, videos, webtoons, audiobooks, and e-books following Google's recent decision.

Until now, Google has enforced in-app payment only for game apps and allowed some self-payment methods for non-game apps like Naver Webtoon and KakaoPage. However, from now on, all other payment methods will be excluded. Google previously charged a 30% fee for in-app payments and around 10% for self-payment, but from now on, a 30% fee will apply to virtually all apps and content paid through Google Play.

New apps registered on Google Play will be required to implement in-app payment starting January 20 next year, and existing apps will be required to comply from October next year.

Due to Google's mandatory in-app payment, domestic app and content prices are also likely to rise. Mobile app developers and service providers have traditionally reflected the commission fees paid to platforms in consumer prices.

For example, the price of one Naver Webtoon usage ticket (Cookie) is 100 won on Google Play, where no commission fee is currently applied, but it is 120 won on the Apple App Store, where fees are charged. With Google's mandatory in-app payment starting next year, a 30% fee will be added on Google Play, and in this case, the price of Naver Webtoon Cookies could rise to 130 won.